Feeling
by StarWarrior72
Summary: "For hope can be found, even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light." Albus Dumbledore
1. Trapped

_Slaves! You own slaves?_ The only reaction I've ever had to that kind of fact is anger. Now that I was a Sith, it was fury. Before I knew what I was doing, the man was dead, and the building was as good as gone.

_Master is not going to be happy about this. That was an important piece in this game he plays._ The game was, of course, the war. He treats his soldiers with no more respect than a player does his pieces.

I stormed out of the remains of the building, sure that I was casting a terrifying aura with every step. That place would give Force sensitives shivers for millennia.

_Children. Innocent children are forced to do your biding. It's wrong. I hope I have effectively told you that._

One of the tiny children limped up to me and took my cape in one hand.

"Mister? What's gonna happen to us?"

I had forgotten that, by killing their master, I had destroyed the only life the little slaves had ever known.

Looking down into the child's eyes, I felt my heart melt. She was such a beautiful child, as were the rest of the frightened girls and boys. I wanted terribly to take them home with me and keep them safe. However, I knew that taking them home would only put them in more danger.

I knelt down before her. "You're free now. Do you understand that? There are no trackers in your body; you have a brand new start." I couldn't sense any trackers, or detonators. "Nor do any of the others. Take these credits and get as far away from me as you can." I pressed a credit chip into her hand.

Then I stood, as quickly as possible. I wasn't ashamed to be consorting with slaves, quite the reverse. I would have been happy for the whole galaxy to know I was against slaving. It was just the small matter that my master might rightly guess that I cared more for the children than I did for myself and kill them instead of torturing me, his normal form of punishment.

The little girl followed me a couple of steps, but when she realized that I wasn't going to respond to her again, she headed back to the cluster of now-free children. I sent a silent plea to the Force that they might live long, happy lives.

8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

"Lord Vader. Your performance was quite disappointing, I have come to expect better. Killing him like that was… wasteful."

"No more wasteful than forcing children into slavery." I snapped back.

The Emperor scowled. For someone who kept encouraging me to show anger, he could be quite moody when I directed it at him, I thought, closer to Anakin than I had been in years. Granted, it was an Anakin who would have happily killed the man who sat in front of him, but Anakin none the less.

"Your regular punishments have obviously not sufficed. This time I think you will spend a week in a slave market. If you try to 'save' even one of the prisoners, I will have them tortured and killed while you watch."

I simmered. He certainly had learned the art of cruel and unusual punishment well. "Yes, Master."

I turned and marched from the room.

Storming down the halls, I brooded. It wasn't my fault that I was sensitive about slavery. He certainly hadn't been the one who had saved me from it either. Already, I was starting to search for loopholes that would allow me to protect at least a few of the slaves.

Finally, I reached my quarters and dropped down at the desk. Pulling a huge sheaf of durasheet across to myself, I started work.

I dragged myself through one utterly unimportant piece of paperwork before throwing it down, thoroughly disheartened.

Sometimes I wasn't sure that I had escaped slavery at all. I had gone from Watto's possession to being a Jedi, right into being a Sith. None of those positions gave me true freedom. I thought of the children with something akin to jealousy. They had been enslaved, abused, but now they were free. They had their lives, to use as they wished.

I had nothing. My body was a lost cause, my family was dead, and I didn't care about the Empire.

I thought of my angel. I missed her so badly… Closing my eyes, I saw her again in my mind. Her body may have been rotted away since she'd died, but she would remain perfectly preserved in my memories for as long as I lived.

Mentally, I drew back every memory of her I had. I remembered her small hands, her smile, that way she would look at me, like I was a disobedient child. Loving, but slightly exasperated. I could feel myself blushing again just thinking of it.

_Oh, Angel, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry._ I wanted her back. I needed her desperately.

There was the sound of something arriving in my computer. Presumably the place I was supposed to go for this punishment. I opened the file and read _Zygerria_. How kind of my master to send me somewhere I was familiar with. Lots of wonderful memories coupled with that place.

I decided there was no point delaying the inevitable and stood up. Zygerria it was, then. It would be a long week.


	2. Pain

On my first day in the slave market, I tried to let myself be dragged through by the guise of inspecting the market. I have no idea what might have allowed me to change it in any way, the laws of the Empire were not written to help slaves.

I dutifully inspected anything I could think of, but I quickly ran out of ideas. Finally, all I could do was wander.

I left the small shop I had been in, still stunned by the horror within. Children, chained to walls. Hearing screaming, I automatically moved towards the mournful sound. As the wails increased in volume and intensity, I began to run.

"Stop! Please, stop! My master will sue!" A tiny boy was clinging to the pavement, a man standing over him, whip in hand.

"You don't even know what that means, stupid slave."

"I do! I know! He'll tell someone an' you'll get in trouble!" the child made the stupid move of rolling onto his back. Instantly, the whip snapped down and carved a cruel, red line into his chest.

"He would need some kind of proof that it was me that whipped you, wouldn't he? And there's nothing to go on but your word. A slave's word is worth less than nothing."

I stepped out of the shadow I had been racing through as I overheard the conversation, "He would have my word. And a Sith's word is worth more than that of a simple slaver."

The man dropped the whip, gathered the child up by the scruff of his neck, and threw him at me. "I didn't know he was yours."

I scowled, "He's not. Don't let me catch you torturing other's slaves without their knowledge."

I put the child down and turned to leave the square, aware of many eyes glaring at me. I walked through almost two blocks of market before allowing myself to turn back to the boy I knew had been following me the whole time.

"Come out."

He stepped out from behind a stall selling slave collars.

"Why are you following me?"

"You saved me." The child looked up at me with huge, blue eyes.

"I did. Why are you following me?"

"You would save me again, right?"

"I suppose."

"Sometimes scary people wait here. They have knives. They try to make me do stuff an' say they'll cut me if I don't. I thought I could stay close to you an' you'd keep me safe."

"Well come out here so I can protect you better, then." I waited while he walked up beside me. "Where do you need to get to?"

"I gotta go back home."

"Show me."

The child took my cape in one hand and led me away from the hub of the market, away from the horribly, hideously bright and cheerful streamers and into a cold, dark outer rim.

I followed him as he walked down many streets. Finally, he stumbled into an alley. He stopped in front of a box that sat midway down. I waited for him to continue, but instead he just crawled into the box.

I knelt down beside it. Even when I was on my knees, it barely came up to my middle. Inside the box, the child looked at me with what I assume was confusion at my continued presence.

He lay in a filthy blanket. Soft, blonde hair fell across his cheek, and one hand clutched at the blanket with a kind of desperation. Was he afraid that I would take his only possession from him?

"This is your home?"

"Yeah," he nodded, frightened.

"Doesn't your master give you a place to live?"

"He has. I can be in his store with the other slaves, but he'd torture me. He knows I don't stay there, but he doesn't care 'cause he has too many slaves in his cell already. His store is in there." The boy pointed over his shoulder at the store.

"What were you doing alone in that square today? Why didn't you have a slaver with you?"

"My master let me go out."

"He gives you a lot of leeway, doesn't he?"

"I guess. But he doesn't feed me. I hafta find food for myself. I'm not very good at it."

"How did you know the word 'sue'?" A frightened slave child wouldn't normally know that word.

"Someone sued me once."

"Suing a slave? That's ridiculous. What did you do?"

"I played with his kid. We just played tag together, and she gave me some food. He was really mad an' he made me give him my necklace an' my blanket."

"That was everything you had, wasn't it?" The two pathetic possessions meant nothing to the slaver, but they had probably been all this child had ever owned.

"Yeah, he took my pictures of my mommy and daddy. He tried to take my box too, but it's not really mine, so he couldn't."

"A locket. I'm sorry." I put one hand on the boy's cheek. He sighed quietly.

"Why did you help me, Mister?"

"You didn't deserve to have him beat you to a pulp."

"My master says slaves deserve to be beaten." The little boy looked down at his knees, which were curled up against his chest so that he could fit into the little box.

"Who says I knew you were a slave?"

"My master says I look like a slave. Do I look like a slave?"

"No. You look like a little boy, who deserves better than this." _You look like me._

He smiled, "Oh. What do slaves look like?"

"Slaves look like aliens. Toydarians, and tuskan raiders. All those filthy creatures."

"My third mommy was an alien. I don't think she deserved to be a slave."

"What do you mean, your _third_ mommy?" I asked, perplexed.

"My first mommy died when I was born. My second mommy was human too, 'cause I needed her milk. But my third mommy was an alien."

"I can understand why you needed your first and second mommies then, but why did you need a third?"

"My master didn't want to be bothered by me crying at night when I had nightmares."

"But what was wrong with your second mommy?"

"They sold her away. Then I didn't have anyone to cry to, so they gave me my third mommy. I liked her, she was nice."

"Where is she now?"

"They killed her. When I played with that little girl they killed my third mommy in front of me so I'd know not to do it again. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to play with people. I thought I could play if I wanted to."

He started to cry and dried his eyes on the ragged blanket, leaving a huge smudge of dirt across his face.

"Get that blanket out right now." I snapped suddenly.

The child clung tighter to his blanket, "But… it's all I've got! I had to work extra hard for ages after I lost the first one to get it!"

"I'll replace it. It's filthy. You'll get sick from it."

When the child continued to cling to his blanket, I took off my cape and held it out to him, "Here, take this instead. It's warmer, and it's clean."

He pushed his old blanket across the street and came back to take the cape from my hands. I held it away from him, "I think you should clean the inside of that box before you take this back."

He glanced in and saw the filth that lay so deep that he could push it out with his hands. He did as he was told, and I tucked the cape around him.

"What's your name, child?"

"Luke."

"Will you be all right now, Luke?"

He nodded silently, and one pale hand slipped up to grasp at the cape I'd given him. The black looked out of place in his little box, with its sun-bleached sides and fair-skinned, blonde occupant.

"Goodnight. Keep safe."

"Goodnight, Mister."

I stood, and turned away from the small box in the dark alleyway. As I walked back to my quarters, I thought of the young child who now slept under a cape made of material so rare that it probably had more monetary value than he did.

Where there any loopholes at all that I could get him through? My master had said not to save anyone, could I take him prisoner? Buy him and keep him as a personal slave, but not work him very hard? Give him money so that he could save himself?

I was afraid to test any hope of a loophole, for fear that I might test it to destruction.

For now, I had done all I could to the small child in the box.


	3. Accepted

The next day, I wandered aimlessly, until I became aware of the child following me again.

"Show yourself, Luke."

Again, he stepped from behind a display and walked to me. This time, I led him into the dark alley, although not the same one that contained his box.

"Luke, you can't be following me, all right? We can't be seen together, or we'll both be in big trouble, do you understand? If you go home now, though, I can meet you after dark. You get some sleep and we can talk tonight."

"Okay…. But who'll keep me safe until then?"

"The same person who's always kept you safe, your mommy."

"But Mommy's not here."

"Your mommy has always been with you. She's your guardian angel."

"Mommy can protect me? Even if she's not here?" Luke looked at me in confusion.

"Yes, Mommy can keep you safe. That's the only way you've survived this long. She won't stop guarding you now."

Luke nodded and trotted back out of the alley. I waited a few moments, then headed in the opposite direction.

That day was more bearable, with the thought of my promised meeting with Luke drawing me onwards.

When I arrived at his box, he was sitting in front of it wrapped in the cape I had given him the day before.

He saw me coming and threw it back in the box as he raced to me.

"You came!" He threw his arms around my legs.

"Of course I came, why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno. But I just thought… you wouldn't be first to forget me."

"I won't forget you. Would you like to walk around while we talk?"

"I thought you said we couldn't be seen together." He looked up at me in confusion.

"I think it's safe now."

He smiled and took my new cape in his hand. I worked his fingers off and took his hand in mine. He led me down through the slave market, an isolated settlement, to a filthy, murky river.

"My mommy an' I used to be over there." He pointed across the river to an old houseboat. "It was safe an' Mommy took care of me."

"Of course your mommy guarded you."

"We played hopscotch on the roof and Mommy grew herbs in the little gardens under the windows."

I nodded.

"Mommy didn't have to work. She stayed home always. Daddy used to stay with us too. He didn't hafta work either."

"How did you get money, then?"

"We didn't need money. Mommy could make her gardens grow what we needed. Daddy made the boat work. We sailed around the world together. Mommy liked sunset. Daddy an' her would watch sometimes. I got to stay up an' watch too."

"It sounds wonderful. What happened to it?"

"Nothing. Some nights I still go there with them. You can come too. Wanna?" he asked, looking up at me.

I nodded, and he took my hand, leading me across stepping stones. As we neared the houseboat, I knew that my hunch had been correct. His perfect family that sailed around the world in their houseboat was just his imagination.

He led me into a decrepit mess. The walls were covered with mold, the floor about to give in, the window boxes all but empty. He walked over to one of the window boxes and picked a small fruit. He crawled onto a chair to eat it.

"Mommy grew this for me. You're right. She does take care of me."

"Of course she does. That's her job."

"Yeah. And Daddy's keeping the boat ready to go 'round the world again. Maybe we should do that soon."

"Maybe you should."

I felt a stab of sympathy. Luke could just barely survive each day, and at night, he brought himself out here to be happy. He was as alone as I was.

"Will you come with us?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Only if you want to."

"I'm not sure, Luke. This is your special place to be with your parents. I would feel like I was intruding."

"You wouldn't be. You keep me safe, like Mommy and Daddy."

"I'm sorry, Luke, I just can't."

"Okay. Wanna see the rest of our boat?" Luke seemed rather disappointed, but he hid it quickly.

"Yes please."

Luke finished his fruit and threw the core into the stagnant river. Then he hopped off the chair and picked his way carefully about broken and rotten floorboards. I used the Force to keep my much larger weight from breaking any of them.

"This is my room. I got my first blanket from the closet over there." He pointed into a filthy broken room. Then he led me in and sat down on the stinking bed. "I couldn't get another blanket from here 'cause they'd wonder where it came from.

"Over there is my desk where I do my homework, an' that's my dresser." He pointed to a couple of unrecognisable heaps of splintered wood.

Then he crawled back off the bed and showed me into another room, "This is Mommy an' Daddy's room. That's their bed, an' over there is their closet. That's Mommy's bookshelf with all her books. Daddy's got some books too. He keeps them beside his bed."

"So I see." There was nothing in the corner he'd pointed at.

Again he led me through the halls to another room that I couldn't guess the original purpose of. "This is Daddy's workshop. We build stuff together here. Look!" He walked over and picked up a small object that had clearly been worked on recently. "I'm making something with Daddy."

"What is it?"

"I dunno. He hasn't told me yet."

"Oh, when will he tell you?"

"When it's done."

I smiled at him. Then he put his project back on the disintegrating desk and led me back through his home. A rat scuttled in a corner. Luke wasn't bothered by it and led me back into the night.

His dainty feet found the slippery rocks in the darkness, and I used the Force to sense them before trying to step on them. Soon we were back on the shore and he was looking back at the houseboat.

"Goodnight, Mommy! Goodnight, Daddy!" He called softly across the water.

We walked towards the center of the slave town, and looked at the brightly coloured streamers that hung from the slave dealers' buildings. Luke started trying to catch one of the streamers, but was far too small to reach.

I reached up and pulled a bright blue piece of tinsel off its string. Luke smiled and took the foil ribbon from my hand, tying it around his wrist like a bracelet. I took a red piece and he tied it to his other wrist, then proceeded to spin so that the blue and red blended slightly.

I smiled, and he spun faster and faster, until he was just a blur. When he stopped spinning, he stumbled around for a few moments, giggling.

I was glad there was no one to see me smile and even laugh as his antics carried on.

Finally, the sky was tinged with light, and I knew that we didn't have long until the vendors began to return to their stores for the day. I walked Luke back to his box and tucked him under the cape I'd given him.

I started to leave, and then realized that he was still shivering. I took off tonight's cloak as well and tucked that around his thin body.


	4. Conflict

The next day, Luke didn't even need to be told to spend the day sleeping so we could spend the night together, wandering.

I struggled through the day again, managed to avoid accidently making another bond with any of the slaves. By nightfall, I was eager to see the child again.

Luke was curled up in front of his box, wrapped in the cloaks. This time, when he saw me coming, he just smiled, and stayed curled up. I reached him and knelt down, putting one hand on his side.

"Hello, Mister."

"Good afternoon, Luke."

"More like night now." He smiled innocently.

"I suppose you're right." He wasn't showing any inclination to crawl out of his blankets, so I picked him up and snuggled him, blankets and all.

Luke giggled, "You're all stiff."

"It's my armour, Luke. You'll get used to it."

"Does that mean you'll cuddle me again?"

"If you want me to." I promised. He smiled adorably, and hugged my neck.

"Yeah. I like snuggles."

I smiled and touched the part of the grill over my nose to his forehead. "Yes, snuggles are nice."

"Where're we gonna go tonight?"

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?" I moved him over to my hip and he wrapped his arms as far as he could around my chest.

"Wanna go play at the park? I'm not really s'posed to be there, but you can keep me safe."

"Where is it?" I could keep him safe, but if it was in a suburb, then it would be dangerous for both of us.

"By the river. Can we go? Please?"

I put him down and he dropped his capes in his box. Then he hopped up and ran towards the river again. I followed him, because of my longer legs I didn't even have to walk particularly quickly.

He bounced into a little park and jumped onto a swing and started to push himself. I smiled and milled beside one of the supports.

"Push me!" He tried to jump onto the seat properly and slid back off.

I couldn't help grinning as I scooped him up to put him on the swing. I did my best to push him, listening to his giggles filling the night. Unfortunately, my armour prevented me from raising my arms properly, so his giggles of 'higher, higher!' went unheeded.

"How did you become a slave?" I asked. It was something I had been wondering for a while. He was a smart little boy, and I could only assume his parents had been too.

"I think I was born to it." Luke shrugged his little shoulders.

"Fate is cruel. You deserve better. Your slaver should be subjected to slavery to see what he puts people through."

"I dunno. I don't think anyone should hafta be a slave."

"I believe some people should. Slavers, of course, and perhaps criminals."

"They should get a second chance. An' what about their kids? Don't they get their mommies an' daddies?"

"I've never thought about that before. I suppose you're right."

"I-I don't like talking about that. It makes me sad." Luke turned over his shoulder to look at me reproachfully.

"I'm sorry. What would you like to talk about?" On the next swing back, I caught him and picked him off the swing.

"I dunno. Why are you here?" I put him on the ground and one hand promptly grabbed one of mine.

"That is a very, very long story." I gave his hand a small squeeze.

"We've got all night."

"Trust me; it's a much longer story than the time we've got." I swept him back into my arms.

"Okay."

I carried him through the town again. Small arms snaked around my neck. I became aware of soft snores. I wished I could carry him back to my rooms and feed him, and give him a warm, safe place to sleep tonight. I knew I couldn't, and as I thought it, it occurred to me that as long as I was carrying him, I was giving him a warm, safe place to sleep tonight.

I continued to wander, the same way I do in the day. My feet carried me first to the center of the slave market. The streamers looked appropriately dismal in the rain that had just begun to fall. The slaves inside could be heard whimpering occasionally. On my shoulder, Luke imitated their small sounds in his sleep.

I stared at the largest of the buildings. It was practically a superstore of slaves. I had been in once, for a short time. The slaves were arranged in aisles like some kind of produce or product. The owners of the terrible place had even gone so far as to tattoo barcodes on the slaves. I heard a child wailing for its mother, who would carefully be kept on the other side of the room.

For a moment, Luke's eyes opened.

"Mister? Where?" He stammered sleepily.

"Hush, Luke. Sleep," I gave him a gentle rock.

He sighed quietly and I wrapped my arms around him a bit more tightly. I waited a few moments until his snores resumed.

The child in the store gave another wail and there was the sound of a crack. The child had just been hit. As the slave started crying, I turned away. Luke slept on.

I walked down an alley and saw another store. This one was smaller, almost quaint in comparison. It reminded me of Watto's old store. Chained inside was a child, who leaned on the wall, asleep. The lights were darkened, and when the little girl shuffled in her sleep, she dislodged something. A large piece of wood fell on her and she let out a soft sob.

As she moved to pick up and replace the wood, she saw me and shrank back in fear. I turned and started back towards Luke's box. This time, I didn't duck into the alley right away. Instead I stepped into the store. It was darkened, and I was sure that only the slaves were there.

I patrolled the aisles with Luke slumbering on my shoulder for a few minutes before I heard crying. I headed towards the sobs. The source was a small girl, who was being tortured.

"Please! Stop, please! Master!"

"Stupid girl. I won't stop because one of my own slaves tells me to. Who do you think you are, giving orders?"

I watched as he pressed a hot iron to the girl's side. When she let out a helpless wail, I turned quickly. I couldn't have Luke wake up here. And the other slaves would soon be roused by her wails, if they saw us; there was no saying how they might react.

I carried him back into the street. Suddenly, I couldn't bear to leave him so close to his cruel master. I took him to the river and across the stepping stones to his houseboat. Onboard, I rested him on his bed.

He clung to me when I tried to release him. Carefully, I loosened his fingers. At last he fell away. Without me to cling to, he tossed for a few moments. When he stopped, I carefully removed his shirt. There were burns on his chest. He had been through his master's cruel torture recently.

I rolled him onto his stomach and looked at the whip wounds on his back. It was clear he had been through more beatings than the one I had saved him from. I put my hand at his side to roll him back over, but he twitched in his sleep. One small hand found mine.

The instant his hand touched my glove, his eyes snapped open.

"Mister?" his hand slipped past mine and onto his back, "Oh, no! Please, I didn't mean you to see that! Don't hate me, please, don't hate me!" Tears raced down his cheeks and his eyes were wide with horror.

"Luke, it's okay… Why would I hate you for that?"

"I-I dunno. I was just scared." He clung to my chest and sobbed helplessly.

I held him, flustered. Then it dawned on me. _He's a slave. He's used to the knowledge that anything he does, anything that happens to him, can get him killed, sold, or abandoned._

"Luke, I'm not a slaver, you know that, don't you?"

"I guess. I mean, you never said it, but I kinda knew anyway." Luke began to calm down.

"Good. I just wanted to be sure. You don't have to be scared of me, do you understand?"

"Yeah. Its just-it's hard, sometimes."

"I know. I was a slave myself. Try to not be scared by me, all right?"

"You were a slave? How'd you get away?"

"I was saved." I said, vaguely. I really didn't want to have to explain it to him.

"Are you gonna save me?" Luke asked hopefully.

"I want to, Luke. Believe me, I want to. But my master will torture and kill you if I do. The best I can do is keep you safe."

"But if you're free, why do you have a master?"

I put my hand on his cheek. "It's a respect thing. He's my teacher."

"He doesn't sound like a very nice teacher."

"I guess he isn't, really."

"I wanna stay with you." Luke held my arm tightly.

"I wish you could stay with me. I want to take you home with me. But the most I can do is keep you safe."

"Thank you. You're gonna stay with me?"

"I will." It didn't occur to me until much later that he probably meant forever, not just that night, which was how I interrupted it at the time.

Luke nodded with satisfaction and wrapped his arms around my torso. I held him close and let him fall back to sleep.

As the sky began to lighten again, I gathered his sleeping body off the bed and carried him back to his box, hesitantly leaving him at his master's disposal.


	5. Love

"Mister? Is that you?" Luke's little head poked out from an alley and stared at me.

"Is something wrong, Luke?" I hurried over and knelt before him.

"Yeah. Remember I said that mean people bring knives sometimes?"

"Yes."

"One of them got me."

"Show me." I was stunned by the trust he was placing in me by telling me this.

Luke pulled off his shirt and showed a huge knife slash right across his chest. "It's gonna get better, right?" he asked, his eyes huge and frightened.

"It will."

"Promise? It really hurts."

"I'm sure it does. I promise that it will heal if we treat it properly."

"An' what if we don't?" Luke asked.

I didn't want to scare him, "We will."

"But what if we don't?"

"Luke, we're going to treat it properly, so it doesn't matter what might have happened if we hadn't."

"But what if we don't know how?"

I moved farther into the safety and obscurity of the alleyway. Then I pulled him close and held him there. "Luke. I know how to treat it. Don't worry. The first thing we need to do is give you lots of sleep. Go back to bed, and I'll finish the treatment tonight, all right?"

Luke sniffled unsurely, looked up at me, nodded, and headed back to his own alleyway and box.

I stood, took a deep breath, and re-immersed myself in the cruelty of the slave market.

It wasn't long before I was aware that Luke was still following me. I couldn't very well acknowledge his presence without putting both of us in a great deal of danger, so I pretended I hadn't realized that he was behind me.

Finally, I could bear it no longer. I slipped into an alleyway, and waited for him to round the corner after me.

"Luke. You have to go home now. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"It hurts." Luke's blue eyes were round.

"I know, but I can't do anything about it right now."

"Really? Sometimes rich slavers got stuff to make it better. They don't give it to slaves unless they really, really, really like 'em though."

It took me a moment to realize that he was asking me for medicine. To be honest, I'd forgotten I had any with me. I knelt in front of him and took some medicine out of a pouch on my belt. I quickly rubbed the antiseptic over his wound, then covered in in synthiflesh.

"Take care of yourself, Luke."

I turned and started to walk away, but I suddenly remembered my wife coming to me in a dream, shortly after she'd died. She had promised to protect me if I ever needed protection.

_Padmé, if you can hear me, take care of that little boy._

I knew Luke was still stumbling around after me. I hoped that Padmé was protecting him. She had had her ways of being so discrete with protection.

I kept walking. Let him follow me, it was actually probably safer than going back to his box. I avoided going into slave shops, for his sake.

At about noon, I lured him into another alley to give him some credits to buy himself a meal with. His smile was priceless as he left to buy himself food. I waited as patiently as possible for him. He came back with a pathetically small amount of food that was clearly more than he ate in the average week.

Giving me a huge, luminous smile, he wrapped himself around my legs. I smiled and hugged him as best I could. Then he untangled himself from me and sat down against the wall to eat. I quickly left the alley. We both knew that he could find me when he was done eating.

About half an hour later, I was aware of him following me. I smiled. It was nice to have someone who cared like that. It was oddly endearing the way he could suddenly forget my rules and follow behind me. In that way, he was like a disobedient puppy, frustrating, but far too adorable to be angry with. The thoughts became darker as I realized that I could own him like a puppy.

_I think that even if I bought him, I'd feel more like I belonged to him. Like I do now. I don't think anyone could ever really own Luke._

I let Luke trail me unhindered for the rest of the day. By the end of the day, I wanted desperately to give Luke something in return for his loyalty. _My master doesn't have cameras in the hotel. Maybe I could bring Luke home with me, just for tonight._

I led Luke towards my hotel. I sensed his confusion. I suppose he knew that this was the time we would usually be heading back to his box. When I stepped inside, I felt disappointment from him. _No, Luke, come after me. Not right away, but soon enough that you can still find me._

A few moments later, I felt him following me again. I led him up the stairs so he could continue to find me. After doing a quick scan on the stairwell, I waited for him to catch up with me. One of his small hands slipped into mine, and I led him up to my room. When we reached the top of the staircase, I let go of his hand and walked ahead of him again, but I was careful not to lock the door to my room.

Luke tottered in, exhausted from a long day of non-stop walking, and then the long staircase. I scooped him up and rested him on the bed. His little hands felt at the blankets and pillows in wonderment. He started to lie down on the bed, then looked at me with huge, worried eyes.

"I'm too dirty."

"That can be easily changed." I showed him to the bathroom, and quickly explained shampoos conditioners, and assorted soaps to him. Then I ran him a bath, and left him to bathe himself. After a few minutes, he came back through the door, dripping. His rags were also soaked, so I could only assume that he had taken advantage of the opportunity to wash them too.

I gave him one of the hotel bath robes and he wrapped that around himself. His little body was instantly enveloped in it. I gathered the precious little bundle and sat on the bed with him. He closed his eyes and rested against me.

I looked at his innocent expression and suddenly felt like nothing I did was gentle enough. I was afraid that I was hurting him, no matter what I did to prevent that, His little body, small, even for his age, seemed smaller still when he was wrapped in an adult's bathrobe. The white suited him better than the black robes in his box, I decided. They did a better job of hiding him. It wasn't that he was pure white, but he was a lot closer to white than he was to black.

Luke didn't sleep long before waking up again, and wanting to explore my rooms. I let him. He happily clambered off the bed to go exploring. I took his hand and allowed him to lead me with him.

After he had explored the basic room, I showed him through a locked door to the space that was specifically mine. The rest of the room was a usual penthouse, but in these rooms catered to my personal needs. Luke happily trotted up to the oxygen pod.

"What's this?" He poked at it curiously.

I used the Force to open it and he crawled inside.

"What's it do?"

"It allows me to breathe. I was badly wounded, and I can't breathe by myself anymore."

Luke raced up and attached himself around my legs. "Why would anyone hurt you? Did they hurt you when you were a slave? Why?"

I picked him up and carried him into my pod. "A man tried to kill me. I was a slave at the time, but not in the way you're thinking of."

"Is 'at why you wear this?" Luke knocked at my armour with one small fist.

"Yes."

"But in there, you don't have to?" Luke pointed at the pod.

"That is correct."

"I could be in there?"

"Yes."

"I could breathe, right?"

"Yes."

"Can we please? I wanna see you." Luke said.

I nodded, unsure. I didn't know if I wanted him to see my face. I carried him into the pod, though, and sat down. The dome hissed closed and oxygen started to fill it. Luke gasped and looked at me worriedly.

"It's okay, Luke. Don't be afraid. You'll be all right."

He tried to hug my neck. "No. Just a moment."

Luke pulled back just in time to not get his little arms caught in the mechanism that removes my helmet. He stared at me as it pulled away, taking my mask with it. I smiled sadly at the horror on his face before he suddenly launched himself at me and proceeded to kiss me. I laughed and pulled him off.

"What are you doing?"

"Kisses are s'possed to make it all better." He explained innocently.

"I don't know about all better, but that did help." I kissed him back and he smiled widely.

"I like you. Do you like me?" he asked, starting to play with my cape.

"I don't just like you, I think I love you." I told him, looking at his slight frame wistfully. What I would give to take him home and keep him safe. I hated my master. I really, really hated him. It was his fault that I couldn't even care for this innocent little child. It was his fault that Luke would probably grow up almost unloved.

"What's love?" Luke asked.

I looked at him in horror and his blue eyes became almost closed for a moment, a shock after their usually expressive, swirling, raw emotion.

"Never mind. If you don't wanna tell me, you don't hafta. Anyway, I'm just a stupid slave. I probably wouldn't even get it." I heard a sniffle in his voice.

"Luke, I'm happy to explain it. It simply shocked me that you don't know that word."

Luke looked at me again, his eyes opening themselves to me once more, "What's love then?"

"Love is something that you are full of. You are an incredibly loving little boy."

"How can love be somethin' that you've got but somethin' that you do too?"

"Love is… intangible. It's very hard to explain. How do you feel when you look at me?"

"I feel warm, I guess. An' safe. Why?"

"I was hoping that you love me."

"Do I?"

"I think you do. Do you know what that means?"

"Not really." Luke shook his head and moved from playing with the cloth to playing with the chain that held my cape around my neck.

"Loving someone is a gift, Luke. If you love someone, it is also called giving them your love."

"Is'at a good thing?"

"Having love? Yes, having love is a very good thing."

"So if I'm givin' mine away that makes the person who gets it happy?"

"It makes me very happy." I nodded.

"But that would make me sad, wouldn't it? 'Cause I don't feel sad when I'm with you."

"Love is a strange thing, Luke. When you give love away, you only ever seem to get more. Loving someone makes you happy too."

"Oh. So when I feel love, I'm loving you?"

I smiled, "Correct."

"I've loved other people, right?"

"Have you felt this way before?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded.

Part of me was almost hurt. I kind of wanted to be the first person Luke had ever loved.

"Can you love someone you never met?" Luke asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Then I loved my mom an' dad." Luke said in a small, but determined voice.

"That's right. You understand." I stroked his soft fluff of hair.

"I like love."

"Love is a wonderful thing."

"Mister? I'm never gonna stop loving you. You taught me about love. You teach me a lot."

"Someone needs to teach you." I told him.

"You'll teach me, right?"

"I would be honoured to be your teacher."

"How're you gonna teach me? We haven't got a school."

"I will teach you by answering your questions. So ask me questions, Luke. The more you ask, the more you learn."

Luke nodded in understanding. "Okay. I can do that. That'll really teach me right?"

"There's no right way to learn. There are ways that work best for certain people, and I hope this one works for you."

"I got a question." Luke said.

"Yes?"

"Can I have food?"

"Of course."

I used the Force to lower my mask back over my face, and stood up. Luke crawled into my arms, and I carried him back to the kitchen. He sat on the counter while I made up a small plate of food for him. He took it eagerly.

"I don't get to eat much, Mister. Thanks."

I sat next to him, hating the galaxy for the injustice it had thrust upon that one, small child. I hated the way he almost guarded his food. I hated the way his stomach growled so loudly when food was placed before him. And as I sat there, hating those things, I realized that all that hate made up love. I hated, because I loved. I hated the galaxy, because I really, and truly, loved Luke. I hated, because I had found a son. The son of a father. I was the father of a child. He had no father, I had no child. It should have been so simple. Maybe a few papers to sign, but with the boy a slave, probably not even that. It should have been a simple matter of adoption.

I realized then that my master had, not only stolen my life, but barred me from finding a new one. And I hated all the more.

Luke finished the food I'd given him. "Thanks, Mister." He smiled at me, so innocent, so loveable.

"You're welcome, Luke. There is one more thing that we will do before you have to go back to your box, do you understand?"

Luke shrugged, "Okay."

"I have to take you somewhere special for this." I told him, picking him up.

"Okay," he nodded sleepily.

I carried him back into my private rooms, and into the small medcenter that I seemed to need at all times. Setting him on the table, I carefully removed his small shirt. He started to shiver instantly. I quickly changed the dressings on his wounds. I also applied a burn medicine to where his master had burned him. Luke was too tired to question anything.

I gave his shoulder a gentle shake, "Luke, wake up."

Luke shook himself awake.

I passed him some antibiotic patches and a bottle of painkillers. "Hide these well, Luke. The patches will make your wounds heal faster, and the pills will make it stop hurting. You are too small to take more than one pill at once, and they can take time to take effect, so don't eat more than one. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Don't chew the pills, all right?"

"Okay."

"Go home now, Luke. I'll see you later." I stroked his hair again. He gave me a smile and crawled off the tabletop. I watched him go, longing to keep him with me.


	6. Trust

"Mister? I wanna do something new tonight." Luke sat outside his little box, rocking quietly.

"What would you like to do, Luke?"

"I wanna go… I wanna… I dunno. I wanna do somethin' special."

"Oh, why don't I check your wounds while you think about it?" I asked him.

"Okay." Luke pulled off his shirt and turned his back to me. I sat down beside him and started to remove the patches. He wondered innocently while I redressed his wounds.

"I think I wanna… I think… what did you do when you were little?"

"I used to spend time with my mother. I would build things in my master's shop."

"Build what things?" Luke asked eagerly.

"I would build whatever he wanted me to. Whenever I had extra time, I would build a humanoid translator droid I'd been working on. It was a secret project. Only my mother knew of it."

"Oh, why were you building it?"

"I told myself it was for my mother, but I think that I was really just trying to stay sane."

"Did it work?"

"I think it did, for a time."

"What stopped it?"

"I was bought, and the robot stayed with my mother."

Luke turned to me; I had finished with his wounds, "Why'd they take you away from your mommy? Did one of you do something?"

"I won a race."

"But that's good!"

"It wasn't for my master, Luke."

Luke looked down at his tiny, bare feet. "Sorry."

"What do you want to do tonight, Luke?" I asked, wanting to distract myself from that passed life.

"I wanna have a secret project. Will you help me make one?"

I considered asking what was wrong with the one he was working on with his daddy, but I knew that it would be cruel. "Yes, but I don't know what you're good at. I think that you have to enjoy the secret project for it to work."

"Okay. I dunno what I like, though. I don't get to choose what to do. Can I try a droid like you did?"

I nodded, and Luke stood up. As soon as he was on his feet, he tottered tiredly over to me and wrapped one arm around my calf, as though for support. It was such an oddly endearing motion. It made me feel, for a moment, like any father in the galaxy, taking care of a young child. I didn't want that. Not now, not when I'd lost so much, it would give me so much more to lose. I dragged him off, and carried him instead.

Is Luke taking me as his father? Is he trying to fill that space in my heart? Does he even know that he's tearing me apart like this? I looked down at him, snuggled in my arms. I don't think he did know. I wished_ I_ knew how I felt about him and his longing to stay with me.

"Are you feeling better now?" I asked him, concerned.

"Yeah. Thanks." Luke said happily.

I held him more closely. Then I swung him out from myself, spinning. Luke laughed hysterically. I smiled at him too, his sweet innocence almost more than I could take.

Spinning randomly, Luke laughed less and less coherent words, "I love you! You're great! You're the best." Luke seemed to lose any use of his language as he finally managed, "I think that you're the best dad EVER!"

I stopped spinning him and let him swing down against my chest. I wasn't sure if it was the best compliment I'd ever received in my life, or the most hurtful thing he could possibly have said in that moment.

"Mister? Are you okay?" Luke looked up at me in concern.

I didn't answer. I wasn't ready to. I supposed I was glad that he hadn't called me 'dad' but it would have been nice to hear it from him. I would have liked to imagine for a few minutes that he was my son. In my arms, he was still looking at me in concern. I gave him a quick snuggle to tell him that I was all right, and he wrapped his arms around my neck instead.

"I love you. You know that, right? It's okay with you, right?" Luke asked hopefully.

"Of course," I assured him, but I wasn't sure if I meant it.

"You're not mad, are you? You don't think you're too good for me, do you?" he started to cry helplessly.

"No, no, Luke. I don't think that. Of course I don't. I love you too, I promise. You did nothing wrong."

Luke still cried quietly, and I decided that today wasn't the day to start his project. It would always be tainted by those few moments together, when I frightened Luke.

"Let's go home, Luke. Today isn't a good day to start your project."

"Yeah," Luke said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Luke."

"I just wanna go play."

"I know, don't cry." I held him more closely. I loved the poor boy, but I really didn't know how to take care of him. I was glad that he had learned how to take care of himself.

"You still love me?"

"I do. Of course I do." I held him close and carried him back towards his space.

"We can still go to the boat, Mister?"

"Yes." I turned and walked out to his home. I balanced out across the rocks and placed him on his bed. "I love you, Luke. I really love you. Don't be afraid that I'll stop loving you, I won't. I love you, I love you, I love you." I told him gently, speaking in his ear.

"You love me?"

"I love you."

"You'll always love me?"

"Always," I promised.

"My mommy an' daddy would have loved me too?"

"Of course they would have."

"They wouldn't mind that I love you?"

"Luke, no one would put a limit on love. No one with your best intentions at heart, at least," I longed to kiss him, simply take him in my arms and snuggle him. I wanted that little boy to be my son. I was desperate to have a son. Why couldn't I take him home? Why couldn't he be mine? I loved that poor child. I loved him.

"I love you. Even if my mommy and daddy wouldn't have wanted me to, I'd still love you."

"Thank you." I knew that it was the greatest gift he could give me.

"I want you to stay."

"I want to stay, Luke, trust me."

"I do trust you. Is that important?"

"Yes. Trust is a very important thing. I'm glad you trust me."

"Is trust as important as love?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's more important, sometimes less so."

"Is it important to you?"

"Yes."

"Should it be important to me?"

"I'm not the one who should tell you what to value."

"Who is?" Luke asked. "If I can't trust you, who can I trust?"

"You can trust yourself, Luke. You can always trust yourself. Don't be afraid to answer your own questions, if you think you have the answer."

"You mean I get to choose who I am?"

"Of course you do. You're the most qualified to make that choice."

"Really?"

"Yes. Don't be who others tell you to be. Your master has your body, but he can't own your spirit. You have to keep that."

"Yeah, I should." Luke smiled at me. I didn't know what to say to him. I loved him so much that I was afraid that anything I said would taint him in some horrible, irreversible way.

"Are you okay, Mister?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"Ever since I met you you're sad all the time. An' it's getting worse. It's like every time you get happy, it makes you sad! Why would being happy make you sad?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you. But I don't want you to have to hear that."

"Somethin' bad happened?"

"Yes."

"I'm sleepy."

"I don't doubt it. You've been spending your days following me, and your nights being with me. Why don't we go back to your box and you can go to sleep."

"Okay."

I picked him up and carried him back across the river, back to his box. There, I tucked him under the blankets. "Goodnight, Luke."

"I love you." Luke reached up to me and pulled my hand back down to his mouth to kiss.

I sat beside him, rubbing his side, well into the night.


	7. Apprehension

The next day, when I went down to Luke's shop to let him pick up my trail more easily, I saw a huge sign, covering the doorway.

HUGE SALE! ALL SLAVES HALF PRICE!

I had no idea that slavers had sales. I raced around to the back of the store. As I had feared, Luke wasn't in his box.

_Luke!_

I forced myself to calm down enough to walk. Then, I returned to the front of the store. I walked in, and instantly picked out Luke, hiding against a wall, covered in burns. Above his head was a sign reading WHIPPING BOYS. Other small children hid in alcoves all around him, in similar states of agony. In front of them was a table full of torture implements labeled FREE TRIAL.

I hurried over to him.

"Luke?"

"Mister? You shouldn't be here. He's mad at me. If he knows it was you I was gone with, he'll be mad at you too!" Luke tried to push me away.

"Don't be scared. I won't let him hurt you. Come here." I held out my arms to him. Luke cast a terrified look at his captor and pulled himself into my arms.

"I want my mommy."

"I know, I know. You're safe now." I walked to the front of the store.

"Where are you taking that slave?" The slaver demanded.

"I need to see if he is in good condition." I lied, praying he would buy it.

He glared at me, but let me pass.

In my arms, Luke was shaking violently. He clutched at me, terrified. "Don't put me down! Please, don't put me down!"

"I won't. Tell me if and when you want me to put you down."

"I won't want you to. I need you to keep me safe!"

I didn't tell him that I could do that without holding him, knowing that he needed to be hugged. I snuggled him tight against my chest. Luke sobbed helplessly.

"I don't want him to get me back! Please, don't take me back! Buy me, buy me, please. Please, buy me. Take care of me! He wants to kill me! Or at least sell me to someone who'll do it for him. Please don't take me back to him! He hates me!"

"I know how you feel, Luke. I know, I know. My first master was like that. I swear, it gets better."

"He's selling me as a whipping boy, how could that possibly be a good thing?" Luke sobbed.

"Luke, just for a moment, imagine that you are a free person. A rich free person. And you don't like slavery do you?"

"I HATE it!" Luke shouted, starting to draw attention.

"Hush, hush, I know you do. I know. What I mean is, wouldn't you buy the poor whipping boy? You would know that they would be the first person to take care of, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"And if you were our hypothetical free, rich person, you'd want to take in a cute little kid. You're cute. They would buy you. That might be what's in store. They would take care of you."

"But it's not very likely."

"It might happen, though, Luke."

"I hope it does. Why can't you be my free, rich person?"

"Because if I did that, someone would do something far worse, I don't mean to scare you."

"I just wanna stay with you."

"I know you do, Luke."

"I love you."

"Thank you."

"I trust you."

"Thank you."

"What else would I have to do for you to buy me?"

"Luke, I can't. I wanted to from the first moment I saw you being hurt. But I can't."

"But you said you loved me. Why don't you keep me safe?"

"I'm doing everything in my power to keep you safe. I am doing everything I can."

"Can't you do more?"

"There is a limit to what I can do."

"I wish there wasn't. I wish you could take care of me all the time."

"I know you do."

Luke started to cry harder and wrapped his arms around my neck. I knew he was frightened, I knew why. I knew that my time at the market was almost over, and that I would soon be leaving Luke behind.

"Take me somewhere safe. I just wanna be safe."

I reached out in the Force to hide us from prying eyes and carried Luke out across to his home again. I was struck anew by the sadness of his decrepit space. Luke snuggled against me, even as I sat down on his bed.

"I love you, Mister. Teach me?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't even care. Just teach me. I don't like the feelings I'm getting from you. You're sad. It's getting worse all the time. All the time. Why are you sad? You're free! You can do whatever you want! You gots people who love you!"

"I don't have anyone who loves me. You are the only one who loves me. See? You're special to me, and you're all I've got."

"Why can't life be fair? I want us both to be happy."

I rocked him gently, "No one knows why life is so unfair. I hope that somewhere, someone has the happiness that we should have had. I hope they deserve it."

Suddenly, Luke smiled at me, surprising me, "I bet we get it later. I bet something happens, an' we both get all the happiness we deserve!"

I smiled at his remarkably blatant innocence. I hoped he was right, at least for him. I wanted him to get all that happiness, because I certainly didn't deserve it myself.

"Maybe that's true. Maybe someday you'll be happy. Luke, when I was your age, I made a promise to myself. I said that if I were ever to get free, I would come back and free the slaves of my planet. A few years ago, I succeeded. Why don't we make the same promise now, together."

"Who will you protect?"

"I will protect as many people as possible."

"I want to protect everyone too."

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah."

"Then I promise too. Someday, we'll save all those people, together. And if we can't save them, we at least give them hope. And we tell other people about saving as many people as possible. Maybe they'll help too." I tried to let myself remember being a hopeful, caring slave, like him.

"Yes. We do that. I'll help you. An' you help too. An' then maybe we can make the galaxy right again."

I wasn't sure the galaxy ever was right, but I nodded, just for Luke. "Maybe we can. We can only do our best."

"Maybe. We just gotta try."

"I love you, Luke."

"I love you too, Mister."

I smiled at his oddly endearing name for me. I had never thought such a cold seeming word could suddenly become so comforting.

"Are we gonna meet again tonight?" Luke asked, seeming hopeful.

"We don't need to meet if we don't part. We can just stay here all day, and then tomorrow morning, I'll take you back to your box."

"I wanna sleep. I thought sleeping would make me want to sleep less!" Luke said, shaking his head in annoyance.

"You reminded your body of what you've been depriving it of. Now it remembers how much it needs the sleep. Go to sleep, and I'll treat your wounds. You'll be okay. I promise, sleep well."

I placed Luke on his bed, the horribly rotten, mildewed sheets swallowing his small body. Luke's little body lay still and I knew that he was already drifting off. I took the medicine from my belt and started to apply it to his wounds.

"Sleep well, Luke. Sleep, it's all right. I'll take care of you."

Luke's movements were small, and I stroked his little cheek carefully. Luke slept on, with a small smile.

How could anyone hurt the innocent child? What kind of monster? There were burns all across his little body. His cheeks were covered in burns too. He had been whipped badly. I supposed that his sweet appearance made him a target for the cruelest as well. What monster wouldn't want to destroy his beautiful, helpless self? He was the perfect target.

"I love you, Luke. I love you. Even when I've left, I will be thinking of you. Don't think that I'll forget you as soon as I leave. You'll be in my heart forever. No one has meant this much to me in… almost your lifetime, I'd say."

Luke was fast asleep, and totally unaware of my words. I hoped that they were taking effect on his subconscious. I hoped that when he was frightened, I would be the person he loved and thought of for comfort.

He slept away the night, exhausted by the nights of time together.

Around dawn, I carried him back to his box, with him fast asleep on my shoulder.


	8. Betrayed

The next day, I received the correspondence I had been dreading since coming to love Luke. My master contacted me to tell me that it was time to rejoin the Empire. He didn't give me an exact time that I would be picked up by my ship, just said to stay in my quarters, and they would come sometime today. I assumed that this meant that he knew of Luke.

I longed to disobey him and go find Luke, but I knew better. I knew what would happen to Luke if I did that.

I sat on my bed and stewed in my guilt.

_I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so sorry. I thought we had one more day together. I meant to say goodbye to you, I swear I did._

I was surprised by a tiny knock at my door.

_Luke?_

I raced to the door and let Luke in. He was looking at me, with the most hurt expression on his face.

"Why didn't you come out so I could find you? Why'd you do that?"

"Luke, my master says that I have to go now. Someone will come for me today. I have to leave you. I'm so sorry."

"You have to go?"

"Yes."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

Luke's cheeks began to shine, tears pouring down. "People are always leaving! Why do people have to leave?"

"I'm so sorry, Luke."

"You don't hafta be. You're a hafta."

"I'm a what?"

"You _hafta_ leave. You're don't wanna leave, you hafta. Like my first mommy an' my third mommy an' my daddy. My second mommy was a wanna."

"I'm sorry Luke."

"I won't forget you. Ever. I love you."

"I won't ever forget you either, Luke. You've meant everything to me these last few days. Look at me, okay? I love you."

"I wanna see you again." Luke said, starting towards my private space. I followed him, and let him in. He scrambled into the pod and I followed him. I removed my mask and he looked up at my face. "Are you ever gonna get better?"

"No, Luke. I'll never get better. I'm as much better as I will ever be."

"I want you to stay here."

"I wish I could. I really do."

"I know. I really love you. I really, really, really love you!"

"I love you too." I kissed him, and he smiled.

Luke kissed me too, and I held him close. He was so small, and perfect. I kissed his little cheek again. His wounds were already starting to heal.

"You'll be all right, Luke. Did you hide that medication like I told you to?"

"Yeah. It's safe."

"Do you have space to hide a bit more?"

"Yes, can I have some more?"

"Of course. I'll get it for you later."

Luke snuggled against me, and I removed my right glove, and carefully pulled my hand, the one that felt real, through his hair. He smiled up at me, then took my hand in both of his, examining it curiously.

"Is this like a droid?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes."

"Wow. That's so cool!"

"Thank you," I smiled at him, "It's quite frustrating at times, actually."

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that."

"It's not your fault," I laughed inwardly at how apologetic he was.

"I know, but I still feel bad for you."

"Don't. I'm all right, really. It's just something I have to live with."

"You shouldn't hafta, though!"

"Maybe someday they'll find a way to fix it." I said noncommittally. I doubted it. It was possible though.

"Yeah! Maybe they will!" Luke bounced eagerly.

"Do you know what I love about you?" I asked Luke, on an impulse.

"No, what?" He looked up at me in curiosity.

Suddenly I wasn't sure that telling him was a good idea. What if something I liked about him embarrassed him?

"You're a sweet little kid, with the kind of appearance every parent wants for their child. You apologise too much, and you get angry too little. I haven't seen you glare once in the entire time I've known you. You smile and laugh, when life has given you no reason to. You're so small that I'm sometimes afraid that you will be hurt just by me lifting you. You make me feel the things that you feel, and it feels good, because it's been so long since I've been happy. You're not self-centered, but you're rarely self-destructive either. You're self-conscious, and you really care about others. You're a good person, and it's a welcome change from the people I spend most of my life with."

In my arms, Luke blushed spectacularly as a smile spread across his little face.

I laughed, "See? You adorable little kid!"

"Thank you!" Luke's wide grin had not diminished at all.

"Oh, you adorable, sweet little kid," I told him again, lovingly.

"I love you. I'm really gonna miss you." Luke repeated.

"And I you, little one."

"I really, really love you!"

"The feeling is mutual."

Luke pressed his forehead against mine and his breath tickled my nose. I let out a laugh which would have embarrassed me under any other circumstances. Luke's smile, though, made it worthwhile. He let out a giggle of his own, and breathed on my nose again.

I put some credits in his hand, "Take these, Luke. Whenever you need anything, just take a few and use them. Don't ever let your master find out about it, because he will believe that it is his. The same goes for the medication. Masters always believe that they own your possessions. I've given you fair warning."

"Thanks." Luke slipped it into one tiny pocket.

"It is my pleasure. You can sell anything that comes into your possession. If you must, sell your shirt. With any luck, your master will want you to appear civilized and buy you a new one. That way, you can always sell that one. Don't do it too often, though, or your master will stop buying you new ones."

"Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks. You're so nice to teach me like that."

"I do what I can." I told him gently.

We talked all day, affectionately conversing and learning. The men never came for me.

"Why'd you say that you had to go today? They never came for you!" Luke exclaimed.

"I don't know why they didn't come. Would you like to see the message?"

"I-I can't read…" Luke blushed again, and this time it wasn't a happy-blush.

"You can't?"

"No." Luke looked down at his feet.

"Come along. I'll teach you to read." I scooped Luke back onto my lap, from where he had been playing, exploring the oxygen pod. Then I activated a screen, making the large letters of the message flair across it.

"All right, Luke. I want you to tell me if you recognise any of these letters."

"Yeah. That one, the one that's third from the right on the first line."

"That's resh. Do you see any others?"

"No."

I spent the night teaching Luke to read, by the end of the night he could read the entire letter.

"Good job! You learn quickly. When you need to read something, just try to remember the sounds the letters make and sound it out. I think you can manage that, right?"

"Yeah! So I can use this all the time?"

"If you think you recognise the letters, it's probably in Aurebesh. So, yes. Being able to read will give you a huge advantage."

I knock came at the door, and I knew instantly that it was not bringing so welcome a person as Luke.

"Run! Grab medicine on your way." I wrapped my current cape around his shoulders, "Take care of it." I kissed him goodbye, pulled down my mask, and sent him on his way.

Luke kissed my hand, "I love you. Bye-bye."

"I'll miss you. Run now." I pushed him out. He cast me one last, confused, hurt look, and ran. I pointed him to the side door, and answered the front door at the same time, giving him the opportunity run out of the apartment.

As we left the building to go to the landing platform, I saw Luke sitting behind me in an alley, waving sadly. I managed a quick wave back at him before I had to board. As we took off, Luke ran out of the alley and continued waving. I just saw a few tears on his cheek before he was out of sight.

_Goodbye, Luke. I'm sorry._ _I'm so sorry. I wish I could take care of you properly. I hope someday that I will meet you again._


	9. Anger

"I told you not to try to save any of the slaves!" Palpatine threatened.

"Do I have any slaves with me?" I snapped angrily.

"You tried to help one of them."

"Do you have a name, an owner, an age, or even an appearance?"

"I'd say he was young, about five. Short, blonde, blue eyes."

"That isn't enough information for you to find him. I did nothing to help him, really. I made a bond with him, but I had to let him go, despite how much I love him. I won't see him ever again, and it's tearing me apart. Isn't that enough for you?"

"Yes, I suppose it is." Palpatine glared down at me from his throne.

_Let him glare. Let him hate me. Let him want Luke dead. I would never allow him to kill Luke._

"You are dismissed."

"Yes, Master."

I turned and marched out of the communications area.

I hated seeing my castle now. After seeing the sad space that Luke had, I felt so terribly spoiled by having all that luxurious space to myself. In the rooms, all I saw was the way Luke had been so eager to explore living quarters. When I looked into my workshop, I saw that sad pile of scrap wood with his project resting on it, and remembered my broken promise to start a special project with him. When I saw the bed in my room, I saw Luke's adorable confusion when he had sat on my bed in the hotel. When I saw the food in the kitchen, Luke's radiant smile when presented with any food at all shone in my mind. Had he seen my home, the extravagance I lived in, he would have been so fascinated.

I wished I could trade homes with him. I would happily have taken the quiet back lane, if it meant that Luke was safe and happy. I would never force my whole life on the poor child, but I believed that he would be happy in my home.

_Luke, wherever you are, I hope you're happy right now. I hope you understand that you can take care of yourself. Take good care of yourself, Luke. Don't let them look down on you simply because you are a slave. If ever there was a slave who can show that they contribute to society, it's you. Don't let them hurt you too much._

I prayed to the Force that Luke could take care of himself. I thought he probably could, but I was so afraid for him. For the next few months of my life, I would be haunted by his memory.


	10. Hope

When I received correspondence from the Emperor telling me to travel to Zygerria again, my heart leapt.

_Luke!_

I knew I was too eager to go, but I couldn't help it. The thought of seeing the boy again was almost too much.

This time, as it wasn't a punishment, I flew my own shuttle. As I leapt to hyperspace, I could feel my heart quickening, despite my suit's regulations. I was to see Luke again, and I was extremely excited.

Upon landing, I grabbed an extra cape. I walked through the streets until I found Luke's master's store. Behind the store, I saw the box.

I raced towards it, eager to see Luke. It was nightfall, and I knew he would be there, just putting himself to bed.

"Luke?"

There was no response, and when I looked into the box, there was a new child there, fast asleep. I stared at the smooth, black hair in terrible disappointment. I had been waiting for Luke's messy blonde. Then I tucked the black cape around the little body, hoping that I would feel that it was the proper tribute to the child who had found his way into my heart, despite my wishes.

"I'm sorry I was too late, Luke. Wherever you are, I hope they're kind to you." I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.

As I did what I was sent to do, I thought constantly about Luke. He had been in my heart and mind more than I wanted to admit since I'd met him, but now was worse. Now that I knew he had been sold.

Or maybe he hadn't. Maybe he had given up on living in his box completely! Perhaps he was living happily in the houseboat with his imaginary parents.

Finally, I knew that I couldn't leave without trying to find Luke. As I left the job and started back to my ship, I detoured out to the bank of the river, across from where the decrepit boat had been stuck on rocks. Now, there was nothing but a burned out shell.

_Luke couldn't have been on board when that burned! He couldn't have been! I would have sensed it! Perhaps he was sold after all._

Funny, how something you dread can suddenly become something you hope for. I raced back to the store.

"Did you sell a boy by the name of Luke?" I asked hopefully.

"Luke? Yeah, brought in a surprising amount of money, that one. I suppose that the cute ones are more fun to torture."

My heart sank. Luke hadn't gone to that wonderful, kind person we'd hoped he would. "I need the new owner. Name and address," I snapped at him, glad of my time as a Sith for the first time ever.

He gave them to me, along with the papers documenting the sale, and I raced back to my ship. I was glad that I was alone, free to race as I pleased. I jumped to hyperspace, possibly a bit before it was safe.

_Luke. Poor little Luke. I'll be with you soon._

I turned the papers over, examining them. Luke had been sold almost right after I had said goodbye to him. I closed my eyes, longing for him.

As the ship came out of hyperspace, I was already plotting the building where Luke was kept prisoner. I landed quickly, leapt out of the cockpit, and raced up to the building, papers under my arm.

I slowed down to take the first steps inside.

Slaves stood in dark corners, scuttling away when they saw me. I hated it. They were like cockroaches, afraid of the light, believing they were undeserving of it.

One little slave stood a moment longer than the others, staring at me, clutching at a tiny bit of black cloth. When I met his gaze, he scrambled back into the darkness.

I continued to march forwards as more and more slaves ran from me. Finally, I reached a main chamber where one man sat, surrounded by slaves. Staring around, I couldn't imagine what his profession might be; it seemed his only interest was in harming people.

"Where is the slave named Luke?"

He turned to me at leisure, "Which one? I have three."

"The young one, the blond boy." I snapped.

"Ah, yes him. What do you need with him? I am a very busy man. And he is a busy child; he only has so long to heal daily."

"Bring him to me. I'm taking him."

"I will need a reason to bring him. I don't just hand over my slaves."

"I will pay double what you paid for him. I swear. Just bring him to me." I didn't have time to kill him and search through his slaves. I would kill him once he'd brought me the poor child.

"Bring the boy: Luke!" He ordered a small group of slaves standing about him. As they scurried away, I glared hatefully at him.

When Luke was pushed into the room, though, I immediately forgot about my hatred of the other man.

"Mister?" He held, in his battered hands, the tiny black scrap of cloth I had seen him holding earlier. He was covered in blood and grime, from head to toe.

"Luke? Come here." I knelt down and held my arms out to him, expecting him to race to me as he had back in the slave market. Instead, he held back, clinging to the scrap as though it were his life.

"I…I'm sorry. I di-didn't mean to!" he started shaking violently.

"Luke, come to me." I urged.

"I'm sorry!" Luke howled again, and he raced into my arms, as I had hoped. But he was crying pitifully.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?" I brushed his hair out of his eyes. They were full of helpless tears.

"I-I couldn't do what you wanted!" he wailed. "I messed up!"

"What do you mean? What did you do wrong?" I held him close again, stroking his hair as gently as I could.

"Y-you said th-that I should t-take c-care of it an' I c-couldn't."

"What are you talking about?"

"Th-the cloaks!" Luke sniffled, holding up his black scrap.

"I don't care about the cloaks, Luke. I just care about you."

"Y-you said to take care of them! Why'd you do that if you didn't care about them?"

"You couldn't possibly care for them if you yourself were hurt. I am just a pathetic Sith Lord! I was afraid to show you my true feelings. Telling you to protect the cloaks was a way to tell you to take care of yourself! I was so scared when I told you that I loved you, and when I told you why, that was the scariest thing I've ever done. I love you, Luke. Come home with me, please." I begged.

"Really? You still want me even though I messed up?"

"You're alive. You did exactly what I wanted."

Luke gave a helpless sob and threw himself back into my arms. He clutched at me. He was so small and frightened that I forgot about killing his master.

"What do you need for him?" I asked.

"Twice what I originally paid for him, as you promised."

I paid him, watched as he waved his deactivator at Luke's shivering body. Then I ran with Luke snuggled against my chest. I boarded my ship and sat there with him, stroking his hair, brushing the tears from his eyes.

"Luke, it's okay. It's okay. It's all going to be all right. I promise. You're safe now. You're safe."

Luke sobbed utterly unintelligibly, clutching at my hands. He was physically begging me never to let him go again.

"It will be all right. Don't cry. I won't let them take you ever again. Don't be frightened. I'm here with you. You're safe. It's going to be okay."

"D-don't leave me!"

"I'm not. I won't. You're safe with me. I'm going to take off now. We're leaving your master behind. Then you'll be even safer."

Luke nodded, still shaking. As I took off, Luke nuzzled my chest. "You're gonna stay with me forever and ever. Right?"

"That's right. I love you, and people who love people never leave forever. I promise, I'd never leave you forever. Never. Don't cry."

"I'm safe with you. Safe. You're gonna keep me safe. I love you, Mister."

"I love you too, Luke."

Luke snuggled safely against me. He touched my armour with his tiny hands, the way he had all those months ago, initially fascinated by it.

As he we landed, I pulled Luke upright on my lap to look out at the castle. I couldn't help letting out a soft laugh at the amazement in his eyes.

"Wow."

"I know."

"We're gonna live here?"

"Yes, we are."

"Wow." Luke smiled.

I stood up and carried him close against myself as I went up to the castle.

"I'm glad you're safe, Luke. I'm so glad you'll be okay."

Luke didn't answer me; he just snuggled against my chest.

I carried him into my room and laid him on the bed, despite how filthy he was. He deserved comfort after the months with his terrible master. He didn't complain. Instead, he curled into a ball and pulled a pillow under his head.

"What hurts the most?" I asked him, looking at his array of wounds.

"The burns." He murmured into the pillow.

"All right." I stood up and started to leave the room. Luke instantly leapt off the bed and raced to me.

"Don't leave me!"

I picked him up, "I wasn't leaving you, Luke. I was getting some medication for you. Would you like to come with me?"

"Yes. Don't leave me even that much ever again, 'kay?"

"If that's what you want." I promised.

"It is. Don't put me down, Mister. Please."

"I won't. I won't. I promise you." I tried to soothe him.

"I'm sorry."

"What for? You've done nothing wrong!"

"I'm a mess. Takin' care of me'll be a pain."

"Luke, taking care of you will be an honour. I love you, so it's only fair that I care for you."

"Thank you." Luke closed his eyes and rested his head on my chest.

"You're welcome. Really, I'm happy to do it."

"I love you."

I smiled down at him and rested him on the medical table. He sat there, looking around at the various devices, while I carefully treated his burns. After that, I tended to his cuts and bruises. Then, Luke scrambled into my arms to be carried back to bed.

"Luke, this castle works much like the oxygen pod in the hotel. I'm going to turn up the oxygen now, so don't be frightened by it."

Luke nodded in tired understanding.

"I'm going to have to leave you alone in the room while I get changed. Will you be all right?"

That made Luke pause for a moment, "Do you really hafta?"

"Yes. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Okay…" Luke nodded unsurely.

I changed as quickly as possible and returned to Luke. He was sitting on the bed, gazing around the room in curiosity.

"Do you feel better now?" I asked gently.

"Yeah. A bit," Luke nodded quietly.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded again.

I picked him up and tucked him into the bed, then crawled in beside him. I smiled at his serene, already-sleeping face. He looked like any other child in the galaxy, safe and loved.

"Goodnight, Luke."

I had many questions for him, but they could wait for tomorrow.


	11. Misunderstood

"Luke, wake up." I gave him a gentle shake and he rolled over, grasping at my hands. "It's time to wake up now. Wake up."

"Mister?"

"That's more like it. Up you get," I told him, lifting him into a sitting position.

"Where am I?" Luke asked. His eyes were half closed, and he seemed to still be mostly asleep.

"We're in my castle. I suppose you don't remember any of last night?"

"Not really," Luke's eyes opened more, and he looked around the room.

I didn't know what to say to remind him, "Maybe you'll remember when you're more awake."

"Yeah," Luke nodded tiredly. "What've we gotta do?"

"It's time to wake up. I was about to make us something for breakfast. Would you like something to eat?"

"Yeah. Carry me?" he requested, holding up his arms.

I picked him up and he wrapped his arms around my neck, resting his little head against my ear. I carried him down to a living room and programed the food prep.

"That makes food?" Luke asked, fascinated.

"Yes, it does. Do you want to watch?"

"Yeah!" Luke nodded furiously.

I opened a few panels and held him so that he could look inside. He watched for a few seconds before pulling back into my arms.

"That's so weird!"

I smiled at him and put him down on a sofa. Then I passed him his meal. He started eating eagerly. "Thanksh!"

I smiled again, sadly this time, and started on my own meal.

Luke finished quickly and put the plate on the coffee table. I finished my own meal and followed suit.

"What're we gonna do now?" Luke asked eagerly.

"I haven't got any plans for today. What do you want to do?"

Luke gave me a devious smile for a moment before launching himself into my arms. "Hug me!"

I hugged him, and he attached himself to my tunic.

I smiled at him again, returning the hug. After I'd held him for a couple of minutes, I tried to take him off.

"Nu-uh. You're gonna snuggle me aaaaaaaaaaaaaaall day."

"What?"

"I'm not gonna let go." Luke smiled cheekily.

"All right, but at least let me shift you to somewhere that won't be so awkward."

"'Kay. But don't try to put me down!"

"I won't. Just let go."

Luke released me and I shifted him to my hip. As soon as he was sure I was done moving him, he clasped me tight in his arms again. I sighed.

Luke giggled, "An' I'm not gonna let you go 'till tonight!"

"This is very childish, I hope you realize this."

"Yah. So what? I've got you!" Luke rubbed his cheek on my shoulder, and I rolled my eyes at him. His smile grew.

"So, now that you've got yourself attached to me, what do you want to do with our day?"

At that, Luke's eyes swirled inward and I knew that he hadn't thought about that. Finally, he focused on me again and shrugged, "I dunno! What d'you wanna do?"

"It is entirely your choice. I'm not going to make it for you."

Luke pouted.

"No way, kiddo. This is your choice." I laughed gently.

He grinned childishly. "Okay…" He rolled his eyes up, as though he was deep in thought. "I wanna learn how to build stuff."

"We can't do that if you're using your arms to stay attached to me."

"'Kay then. I'll watch. You can build whatever you wanna an' I'll watch." Luke nodded, apparently sure that his idea was a good one.

"All right." I smiled at him, and he promptly scrambled up my side to replace himself on my shoulders, his arms wrapped around my forehead.

"Now I'm even less in the way," he declared, not entirely mistakenly.

I didn't respond, just walked down to my workshop. Luke quietly watched me working for almost all of a minute, before reaching down to poke at it.

"What is it?"

"It's a droid part."

I earned almost all of another minute with that response.

"What does it do?"

"It allows the droid to balance."

"Oh."

After almost a minute again, Luke asked, "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, I hope. I'm just building it."

"Oh."

This time, Luke waited almost two minutes.

"Howcome?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why're you building it? You're rich. You could buy it."

"I could, but I like building things."

I felt Luke's chin on my head, and assumed that he was relaxing a bit. He watched quietly for five minutes.

"Mister? I'm bored. Would you put me down?"

I put him on the workbench in front of me with a smile, "I thought you'd never ask."

"Can I build something too?"

"Yes. What would you like to build?"

"Am I gonna come with you on missions like when you found me?" Luke asked.

"Yes, I think so."

"Are we gonna meet slaves?"

"We might."

"D'you know how to make a deactivator?"

"You mean to free slaves?"

"Yeah."

"I do."

"Then I wanna make one of them an' take it with me."

"All right." I started rummaging for the pieces he needed.

Luke peered over the edge of the counter, "Wow! That's a mess!"

I looked at him, up to my elbows in unsorted parts, "Yes, it is."

"Slavers are never messy."

"I told you, Luke. I'm not a slaver."

"I know! I like that it's messy!"

"I never noticed that slavers were neat people. My master certainly wasn't." I was surprised to be able to laugh at the memory of searching for a piece for hours. "My mom used to accuse me of adopting his organizational habits."

"Really? Huh. Most of 'em'll be really mad if you leave somethin' in the wrong place."

"Interesting. Here are the pieces." I placed them before him, and he immediately picked up as many as his small hands could hold.

"Will you help me?"

"Of course." I boosted myself up to sit beside him.

We built together for several hours, until Luke held a deactivator as pieced together as Threepio had originally been.

"All done?"

"Yeah, it's done." I nodded at him.

"Cool! So it'll work now?"

"Yes it will." I nodded.

"Awesome! I wanna do something else now." Luke was off the bench before I could stop him, racing past me, energized by suddenly being properly cared for.

To my horror, he ran into the prison.

"Luke! Come back!" I raced after him, using the Force to propel myself faster. I wasn't fast enough. When I caught him, Luke was staring in horror at the prisoners.

"Mister? Why are they down here? You said you didn't have slaves."

"I don't, Luke." My heart sank even deeper.

"Then why are they all chained up? An' why haven't they been getting enough food? Mister? You didn't know about them, did you?"

"Come back upstairs. I won't let them hurt you." I held my arms out to him.

"They don't look like they can hurt anyone. Why aren't you treating them like you're treating me?"

"They're evil, Luke. Come back to me. I'll get you away from them."

Cries of outrage rose from the surrounding cells.

"We're evil?"

"You're evil!"

"Is it wrong to think for ourselves?"

"You murdered my family!"

Luke ran to the one who had cried for her family. "He hurt your family?"

The woman reached for the boy's hands. "He killed my husband and my children!"

Luke shook his head, "He wouldn't do something like that!"

"I saw him. He's the evil one, Luke."

"Don't you dare address my son!" I shouted at her.

"You dared to kill both of mine!" She reached through the bars further, taking Luke against herself. He went willingly.

"What? Mister? I'm not your son." Luke looked at me in confusion, pulled against the stranger's rib cage.

"You are in all the ways that count. Come away from her."

Luke turned to the woman. "Please let go of me."

She released him and he walked towards me with his arms out. "Mister? Let them go, please."

"I can't. Luke, they would tear the galaxy apart."

"But you're hurting them!"

"We'll talk about this upstairs." I told him, taking his hand and starting to drag him back into my living quarters. He stared over his shoulder at the prisoners.

"Luke, the people you saw down there are evil. They are robbers and murderers. They don't deserve your compassion."

"You promised to help everybody. They're a part of everybody even if they don't act like they should. You gotta help them. You promised."

"They brought this upon themselves. They are evil, and I am helping many more people than are down there, by keeping them prisoner. Ignore what they tell you. They're deceitful liars."

"If people find out about 'em, they'll think you're evil. You gotta show 'em that you're nice an' let 'em go. Maybe then they'll see that what they were doin' was wrong."

"You put too much faith in people's kindness. Some people are cruel, and should be kept locked up."

"Not all of them. You gotta let them go!"

"Luke…"

"Mister! Come on, please? What if one of them is my daddy? It could happen! I mean, no one knows who he is! Mommy died too fast to tell anyone. An' if one of them could be my daddy, one of them might be the people you're missing! They could be important! They shouldn't be locked up!"

Typical toddler logic. "All right, Luke. You're right. Would you like to come and say goodbye to them?"

"Yeah."

I scooped him up and carried him down to the prison. Giving him they keys to half of the cells, I watched as he raced off, quickly jabbing keys into the keyholes until he found one that matched. The rebels in the cells unfolded from sleeping positions and stood up, following Luke, their little saviour.

I got to work on my half of the cells. The rebels inside those stared at me, and then left their cells to find loved ones among the throng behind Luke. Hearing cries for family members, I felt for a moment as though Luke had been right about them. I quickly brushed the thought aside, but it forced its way back into my mind as I watched Luke being surrounded by grateful people, all wanting to thank him personally.

I released the last rebel from his cell and pulled Luke out of the throng. I led them to the hanger, still cuddling Luke. I ushered them onto a shuttle, and Luke and I watched as it took off.

"Where're they gonna go?"

"Back to the Rebels."

"Why don't they like the Empire?" Luke asked in confusion.

"They feel that we don't do a good enough job of protecting the galaxy."

"You do better than the Republic. Even they never made it out to Zygerria to free slaves."

"Oh, they did once." I corrected him.

"They did?"

"Yes."

"Well, they didn't do a very good job of it." Luke proclaimed. I decided to forget that the conversation had ever even started.

"Would you like to have something to eat, and go to bed?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'm tired." Luke closed his eyes and rested his head on my shoulder. I carried him up to bed, tucked him in and got him some food. He ate quietly, and then rolled over to go to sleep. I smiled at him and crawled in to snuggle beside him. He was more awake than he had been the night before, and he crawled into my arms to sleep against my chest.


	12. Misplaced

"Luke, wake up. We have to go somewhere today." I shook Luke's shoulder gently.

"Mister?" Luke blinked at me blearily.

"Get up, Luke. We have to go. We're late already."

Luke moaned pathetically and held his arms out to me, "Carry me."

"All right, but just this once." I picked him up and he melted against me. Maybe I had been a little harsh. He was exhausted, he needed the sleep badly. Hadn't he been through enough without me trying to force that kind of rule on him?

He rested his head on my shoulder, and I accidently bumped him enough that his little head hit my helmet. He pulled away with a small sound of protest.

"So you've gotta wear this every time you go out?" He asked.

"Yes. Why would it be any different here than back on Zygerria?"

"I dunno. I guess I thought it might be something about Zygerria's air."

"I'm afraid not."

Luke blew a long raspberry. It seemed to be in the place of a sigh, and I couldn't help smiling. He rested his head on my shoulder again and I held him more gently, careful not to bump him again.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a planet called Alderaan. I think you'll like it. It couldn't be any less like Zygerria."

Luke smiled at me, and I rested him on the dashboard of my starfighter until I could sit down and take him on my lap. He eagerly shifted around until he was staring up at the sky, his little legs crossed.

"Don't move too much. I need you to be still in order to pilot properly."

He nodded, and took fistfuls of my cape in each hand to hold himself in place. I took to the sky, and then entered hyperspace.

"Mister? What're we gonna do there?"

"I must investigate rumours of people who challenge the Empire. I don't know what I'll do with you. I told you when I met you, my master would kill you if he knew about you. You'll have to stay hidden somewhere, but I didn't want to leave you at home."

"Oh. Do you think there'll be anything for me to do?"

"I don't know, Luke. I'm sorry."

Luke sighed again. "Will there be anybody at all I can talk to?"

"I'll see if I can get you a droid."

"But, Mister, droids aren't interesting! They don't have pers-pern-persit- they're not people!"

I smiled at his attempt to say _personalities_. "That changes if it's been long enough since they've had their memories wiped. I used to have an astromech with more personality than some humans I've met."

"Really?" Luke asked, sounding interested.

"Yes. Perhaps I can find you a droid the rebels owned, and you can learn everything about them that you can from it."

"Cool." Luke said, smiling up at the swirling stars.

We sat in silence for several minutes before Luke piped up again.

"Mister?"

"Yes, Luke?"

"If you catch any rebels, what're you gonna do with them?"

They would be imprisoned, and tortured, of course, but I knew how Luke would feel about that. "I'll have to take them prisoner for a while. Just to tell them that what they've done is wrong."

Luke nodded. "D'you think maybe I could talk to one of them and be friends when you're keeping them prisoner? I could tell 'em that what they did was wrong. An' maybe I could learn some important stuff from them too."

Now there was an idea. "Perhaps. I would want to be with you any time you're together."

"But they don't like you. If you're with me then they would not like me too. An' then I wouldn't get a friend, an' I wouldn't find anything out for you."

I thought about this. Of course, it was all true, I simply didn't like the idea of leaving the child alone with a rebel. Suppose the man never gave Luke a chance? Suppose he just killed the boy on the spot? "I'll think about it, Luke."

Luke nodded. He resumed staring at the stars and curled up on my lap, yawning softly. I wrapped my arms around him, expecting him to go to sleep, but he stayed conscious, watching the stars with wide eyes.

Finally, my ship left hyperspace and I landed on Alderaan. Luke bounced upright, almost slipping off my knees, and gazed out at the world for almost a second before dropping down into the cockpit again, looking shaken.

"What's wrong, Luke? Don't you like it here?"

"It's beautiful."

"What are you scared of?"

"I don't belong here. I don't deserve it." He looked at me with his big, blue eyes. "They're all gonna know I'm a slave. They're gonna send me back to my master. I don't wanna go! I don't wanna! Don't make me! I wanna go home!" He started to cry.

"Shh, Luke. I already told you, you don't look like a slave."

"They'll find out! I bet they're all as pretty as the planet here, and I'm ugly. They'll know I don't belong, and we'll both get in big trouble! You have to take me home first, Mister. Then you can do what you've gotta do. But if I stay, then everything'll go wrong."

"Nothing's going to go wrong."

"If you leave me alone, they'll take me and sell me back into slavery." Luke maintained. "You should either take me home, or let me stay with you."

"There is no slavery on this planet, Luke."

"None at all?"

"None at all. If anyone finds you wandering around, they'll ask you if you know where you are. If you say no, they'll try to get you back to me."

"Oh," Luke sniffled. "They sound like nice people."

"They are." I assured him.

"Then what're the rebels doing here? I thought they were evil."

I didn't feel it was a good time to try to explain the subtleties of the idea of evil to him. "We're going to be late, Luke. Do you feel safe enough to get out now?"

Luke sniffled again, and then nodded. "I guess."

"We're going to do this like we did when I took you to the hotel back on Zygerria, okay? I'll head up to the palace, and you follow me. When I get inside, you should amuse yourself in the gardens and wait for me, alright?"

"Alright." Luke crawled off my lap and I exited the ship. I heard him clamber down over one of the wings after me, and then I left hearing range as I entered the palace. I paused for a moment, and sensed that he had found a path to explore. Then I was greeted by Bail Organa, and the meeting commenced.


	13. Hurt

When the meeting ended, I walked out into the gardens, searching for Luke. I had expected to find him sitting in a tree or such, waiting for me, but he was nowhere in sight.

Luke! I called out to him through the Force. I didn't feel even a flicker of his presence, something which was incredibly disturbing_. Luke! Where are you?_

Still nothing came back.

I began searching through the dutifully manicured shrubs and trees. When I had finished a frantic self-guided tour of the grounds, I finally came across a small set of muddy bootprints heading down towards a river, where they vanished into a small, untamed forest.

I hurried down the bank as fast as I could. After having hidden from slavers and their beatings his entire life, I'd thought Luke would know to be stealthier with any marks he left in his path.

Once I reached solid ground again, I raced into the stand of trees, still following the bootprints. Suddenly, though, I glimpsed white through the trees. Luke hadn't been wearing white. He was wearing dark grey, which I'd found in the shuttle I'd brought him home in.

I pushed through a patch of brambles to reach the end of the bootprints anyway. There sat the young Alderaanian princess, clothed in white, sitting in a large patch of mud with Luke. She was taking bits of mud and letting them drain through her hands, teaching Luke how to as well.

"No, look you've gotta do this." She was explaining to him. "You're letting your hands shake too much you gotta hold them still, see? Otherwise you get kinda ringed plains, not a castle."

Luke took up a new scoop of mud and tried again.

"No! Like this!" The young princess declared imperiously.

Luke looked at his most recent attempt, which really did resemble dried lava. "I can't."

"Yeah, you can. You're just not trying hard enough. See!" The girl took another large scoop of mud and made a dainty little castle with it.

Luke made a third attempt.

"Look, I can't do it. Let's find something else to do."

The princess groaned. "You're just a quitter," she said sternly. "How do you plan on getting anywhere if you just give up when stuff is hard?"

Luke bit his lip. "You think I haven't done hard stuff? I'd like to see you make it in a slave market. You wouldn't last five minutes." He was breathing faster.

The girl looked at him with fire in her eyes, but when she saw him close to tears, she went up to him and hugged him tight. "Sorry, Luke. I didn't mean to hurt you. You didn't say that'd happened to you."

Luke gave a loud sniffle and started to really cry. I yanked myself free from the trance I'd been in, watching in horror as Luke revealed himself bit by bit. I marched into the clearing and knelt down in the mud beside the two children. Luke wrenched himself free from the princess's grasp and threw himself against me. The young princess gazed at me in surprise.

"Princess, where can I call my ship to that I won't be seen?" I snarled at her.

She continued to look surprised, and confused, but pointed further up the shore. "Up there there's a little beach."

"Good. Go back to your guardians. You never met Luke. You were playing the mud by yourself, making yourself a kingdom. You never saw me." I used the Force to make her believe the last. She nodded, and skipped back up to the palace.

I stood, cradling Luke against myself, and called my ship to the beach. It arrived quickly, as I had known it would, and I climbed into the cockpit and hugged Luke close as I took off.

It took him half the ride home to have calmed enough to speak.

"Luke, why were you talking to the princess?"

"I was lonely waiting for you, an' when I saw her playing in the mud, I thought I could probably join her an' no one'd care."

"She's a princess."

"I didn't know. I thought they wouldn't let her outside to play in the mud if she was." Luke sniffled.

"What did you tell her?"

"I didn't tell her anything. Just right before you came in she hurt my feelings sayin' that I was a quitter an' I couldn't do anything hard."

"I heard her." I promised.

"It's not true, is it?"

"Of course not. You're brave and determined. You were right, she doesn't know the meaning of hard."

"I shouldn't've said that. She was being really nice to me an' I hurt her feelings."

"Luke, she hurt your feelings. You didn't mean to say that. Sometimes your mouth works without your brain, if you understand what I mean."

"I dunno. I never used to talk to people. Maybe I should stop again. Maybe that'd be better for everyone." Luke looked down at his knees and I hugged him close.

"Luke, you just need some practice. People have kept you from talking your whole life. You need to learn how to keep from hurting people's feelings, and there's only one way to do that."

"I guess you're right. Can we go back so I can say sorry?"

"No, Luke. She doesn't remember you now, and it should stay that way. If she were to tell anyone of you, that would be disastrous."

"Whadya mean she doesn't remember me?"

"I cleared the last few minutes from her mind with the Force. She won't remember our meeting at all."

"In the forest? Where we met her?"

"Yes."

"Mister, you couldn't have."

"What do you mean, Luke?"

"She had a pet. She said it blocked the Force. She's Force sensitive too, but her parents don't want anyone to know. It was sitting in one of the trees. Didn't you notice it?"

My heart sank. In my concern for Luke, I hadn't noticed that I was unable to touch the Force. The princess must have simply chosen to obey. But what if the girl told someone about meeting the strange young boy in the forest? Suppose word got back to the Emperor?

"Luke, tell me something. Would the princess keep our secret safe?"

"I think so."

"I hope you're right." _I really, really hope you're right._

I had meant to lecture him about speaking to the girl, but his tears were enough to change my mind. Clearly the experience had already been hard on him. He would probably have learned not to greet people when I'd told him to stay hidden.

"You must be hungry. Let's have dinner and then put you to bed, alright?"

He nodded.

"You must be very hungry. What did you do for lunch?"

"Leia showed me some berries." Luke said softly.

"And you trusted her?"

"Well, yeah. She was eating them too!"

I sighed, but didn't bother to contradict him. As long as he was more careful to stay near me in the future, he wouldn't need to know all the ways it is possible to kill someone.

"Luke, in the future, don't eat what people give you without asking me to check if it's poisoned, okay? I'll be more careful to remember to give you food when I leave you alone. I didn't know how long it would take to investigate."

"How'd it go? I didn't see you leave the palace. How'd you investigate from in there?"

"Bail Organa is suspected of treason. He has evaded me, as usual. But one day he will slip up and I'll catch him."

"Oh. He's the king, right?"

"Yes."

"So what would happen to Leia?"

"I don't know."

"Could she come to live with us? I liked her."

"If the rumours are correct, Princess Leia is also involved in the Rebellion."

"Oh."

I landed the ship and took him up to the kitchen. He sat down at the table, and I fed him. He ate quickly, and then hopped down from the table of his own volition.

"Mister? I'm gonna go to bed now. G'night." He lifted his arms to me, and I picked him up and hugged him goodnight.

When I set him down, he tottered off to bed. "I won't wake you tomorrow. Sleep well." I called after him.


	14. Loved

When I awoke, my first thought was to wake Luke so that we could spend more of the day together, but as I rolled out of bed and moved to give him a gentle shake, I saw his sleeping face, and I remembered my promise. Instead, I descended the stairs to prepare breakfast for the two of us.

Luke deserved the sleep he was catching up on. I wondered how long it would be until he woke up. I wouldn't have been too surprised if he'd slept until noon or after. Poor child, I hadn't really been able to give him a chance to adapt yet.

When he finally did come stumbling down the staircase, I was working on a recent project of a new droid. He crawled onto a chair, and then up onto the table to look at it properly.

"What's it gonna be?"

"I haven't decided yet. I'm just building the structure just now. I'll get to programing it later."

"Oh. S'it gonna be a boy or a girl?"

"I haven't decided that yet either."

"Oh. When're you gonna decide?"

I smiled at him. "Luke, how about you choose."

"Okay!"

"I've put a box of plating on the floor here beside me. Why don't you sort through it and find bits you like, and we'll see how many of them we can fit on."

"Okay." He slipped back onto a chair, and then down to the floor. He came over to me and knelt down, rummaging loudly through the pieces.

"Be careful. You don't want to chip the pieces."

"Right." Luke said, and the sound ceased completely. When I turned to look, he was carefully taking them out one at a time and stacking them in neat little piles.

He noticed me looking and explained quickly. "See, then you can tell me how many of each bit we need. Then I can decide based on that."

"Good idea."

He sat silently beside me while I worked for about an hour before asking me to help him put all his little stacks on the table. I used the Force to move them up and he giggled. Just to show off, I lifted him onto the table in the same way. At first he looked a little nervous, but as a mark of how deeply he trusted me, he quickly relaxed.

I showed him the pieces we needed and he determinedly went about choosing the ones he liked. He soon showed me a wide selection of multicolour plating.

"Luke, this droid is going to look like a patchwork quilt if we use these."

Luke grinned widely, "Cool!"

I laughed.

"Can I put 'em on?"

"Yes. Just not quite yet. I've almost finished. Why don't you have your breakfast while I finish up?"

He nodded and went to get some food. When he returned, he shoved aside a few stacks and ate and watched me intensely.

"What should our droid do, Luke?"

Luke shrugged, "I dunno. What do you want it to be able to do?"

"I don't really know."

"Can you just give it a personality?"

"Yes."

"You should do that. Then it can decide for itself."

"What should we do about its gender?"

"Gender?"

"If it's a boy or a girl."

"Oh. Uh, why don't you let it choose that too?"

I glanced at the plating he had chosen, "Alright. You don't seem to have dictated too much what gender it should be."

"Good." Luke said. "What should we call it?"

"Droids usually go by registration numbers."

Luke didn't seem to hear me. "Let's call it Sam."

"Luke, Sam isn't a registration number."

"Where're we gonna get it registered?"

"We're not."

"Then Sam can be its name."

"How will we record it?"

"I'll make up a letter for it!" Luke declared.

I smiled and fetched him some durasheet to sketch on. Finally he presented me with a simple hieroglyph he claimed represented Sam perfectly.

"That's very nice, Luke. You can come up and help with the plating now."

He crawled up onto the tabletop again and eagerly started snapping on pieces. A red arm, a blue arm, a purple leg and a camouflage one, and a HRD's head later, he looked at the remaining pieces with confusion.

I smiled and showed him how to attach the rest.

"Now to program it." I told him.

"Wait! What about its name? Haven't we gotta write it on somewhere?"

I smiled and nodded. "Do you think your hand's steady enough to record it?"

Luke looked a little nervous, but nodded. "Yeah."

"Here," I said, snapping off the purple leg plating. "Write it here, where its ankle will be."

Luke took it shyly and I passed him a pen. He delicately wrote it on the lowest part of the plating. I took the plate back from him and snapped it into the droid.

I grinned at our Frankenstein's monster.

"I cut its hair off. The human-ish droid was a girl." Luke informed me.

"Good idea. What do you want Sam to be like?"

Luke sat back and crossed his legs, looking pensive. "Um, Sam should be nice. And creative. And fair. And it should be able to play with me. And… maybe fight a bit? Just to keep us safe. An' could you teach it to be kinda like an extra parent so I won't get lonely when you're busy like I did yesterday?"

"I can manage all of that except for the creativity. I'm afraid that will just have to come in time."

"Okay." Luke nodded and watched intently as I gave the droid its personality.

"Would you like to turn Sam on for the first time?" I asked him at last.

"Yeah!" Luke bounced eagerly over to the activation switch.

"Whenever you're ready," I told him.

He sat and blinked at the motionless droid for several minutes before he gathered the nerve to reach over and flick the switch.

He gazed intently at the droid as it moved. Its eyes opened, and I was surprised to find that whoever had been replicated for the HRD had had mismatched eyes, stunningly appropriate for our new droid. It turned its head to Luke, regarding him curiously. Then its head turned to me, surveying me. It continued to look between us until Luke spoke up.

"Hello, Sam."

The droid focussed on him again. "Sorry?"

"I said hi, Sam."

"Sam?"

"Yeah, you're Sam."

The droid nodded, "What's your name, little master?"

"I'm Luke. I'm not your master."

"I see." The droid turned to look at me, but I spoke before it could.

"I'm not your master either. My name is Lord Darth Vader."

The droid nodded and looked back to Luke. I supposed my programming for its parental instincts had gone quite well, as it gravitated towards Luke automatically.

"What is my purpose?"

"I dunno." Luke shrugged. "Mister was building you when I came down this morning. He didn't know what he wanted you to be either. So we decided you get to choose."

"I am supposed to choose my own purpose?"

"Yeah. You don't hafta do it right away though."

The droid nodded again. I helped to guide it to stand up, and held it there while its internal gyroscope began to turn. When it could balance, I let it go, and Luke reached up to grab one of its hands.

"What're you gonna do now that you're alive?"

The droid looked very confused. It blinked across the kitchen for several minutes. At last, it spoke. "I will tell you a story."

"Okay!" Luke nodded enthusiastically. "What're you gonna tell me about?"

"Have you ever heard of fables?" the droid asked.

Luke shook his head. "No."

"They're stories with lessons in them."

"Oh. Tell me one."

"Will Lord Darth Vader be joining us?" the droid asked politely.

"You could probably shorten that," Luke supplied. "Saying his whole name's gonna take forever."

"I will join you," I said.

The droid, which I had programed with a layout of the castle, led us into a living room, where it sat down and took Luke on its lap.

"One evening an old native told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.'

"The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?'

"The old native simply replied, 'The one you feed.'" The droid finished. Luke continued to gaze up at the droid, as though waiting for more, but when none came, he spoke.

"I don't quite get it. What's the lesson?"

"You have to feed the wolf you want to win. Which wolf do you want to win?"

"The good wolf, of course!" Luke said.

"Then you have to be careful to only feed the good wolf. Or, at least, mostly the good wolf."

"Oh." Luke said, settling on the droid's lap and putting his thumbnail in his mouth and starting to chew on it nervously. "So, like, when I hurt Leia, I was feeding the bad wolf?"

"Yes." The droid answered.

"Oh." Luke said again. "I don't want the bad wolf. I want it out of me. I didn't mean to feed it."

"You can't get rid of your wolf. But you can keep it weak, as long as you don't feed it." The droid told him.

"You mean you want me to starve it?"

"Yes."

"Why should I starve it? What did it do wrong?"

"It's trying to kill the good wolf."

"But isn't the good wolf trying to kill it too?"

"Yes, but it's evil. It needs to be killed."

"Why?"

"Because it would make you do evil."

"But isn't killing it evil?"

"No."

"Why not? How do we know if it wanted to be evil? Maybe it wants to be the good wolf!" Luke looked perplexed. When the droid was unable to supply answers to his questions, he crawled across onto my lap.

"I don't get it, Mister."

"I think you do understand, Luke. You're just trying to understand it in deeper terms that it was ever meant to be interpreted in."

"Oh." He rested his chin on my knee and stared at the droid for several minutes.

"Luke, would it make more sense like this? You have two warring factions, and you can either give defenses to one team, or ammunition to the other? The first can only have defense, the second can only have ammunition. You need to give the defensive team enough defensive mechanisms to hold back the attackers, and whatever weapons you give them."

"Oh, that works better."

"Good. Now do you understand?"

"Yeah. But why are they attacking?"

"It's all they know. It's what they live to do. They like attacking. It doesn't particularly matter to them if they win or not. They just want to keep attacking."

"Oh, okay." He moved back to the droid. "Tell me another story."

I smiled at him. "I'm going to go make us some food. I'll be back soon."

But the droid lifted Luke and carried him after me, telling him stories the whole way, and continuing even as I brought food to the table and Luke and I ate.

"Luke, I've arranged your own room for you, would you like to sleep there with Sam tonight?"

Luke looked up from his meal and looked nervously between us. "Um… I guess."

"Would you rather stay with me?"

"I should get used to sleeping in my own bed, shouldn't I?"

"It would be for the best."

"Then I'll do that." Luke nodded determinedly.

When Sam took Luke from the table, I followed. The droid tucked Luke into bed and I kissed the little boy goodnight. When he let go, I turned to leave but he gave an almighty sniffle, and I turned back. There were tears on his cheeks.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm a bit scared of you leaving. I just want you to stay here with me."

"How about if I stay until you're asleep? Then Sam can watch you for the rest of the night."

"Okay," Luke sniffled and pressed himself against me. I sat beside him, stroking his hair until he was fast asleep.


	15. Safe

Two weeks later, Sam still seemed not to have noticed a need for a gender. It had taken quite strongly to telling Luke stories, feeding him, and tucking him into bed, but I was relieved to find that Luke still came running to me when anything went wrong. I'd be the first to admit that I had been worried that the droid would prove a better guardian than a Sith Lord.

And so it was that Sam was making us dinner and recounting a story to us while I amused Luke with low power light shows at the table.

"What're we gonna do tomorrow?" Luke asked at last.

"I haven't decided yet," I told him honestly. "I have some work to catch up on, but I think that I might be sent on a mission."

"Why d'you think that?"

"I'm Force sensitive, Luke. Sometimes I just know things. You've had that feeling too, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not special."

"Yes, you are, Luke. It was one of the first things I sensed about you. You have a lot of power."

"Oh," Luke looked confused and focused on the sparks I was making dance. "I'm confused. Feeding the good wolf or the bad one?" Luke had taken to using those words as a way of surmising whether he had hurt anyone's feelings with his words, and whether what he was feeling was appropriate.

"Neither one. There are some feelings that don't really go to either wolf. Confusion is one of them."

"Oh. Mister, can you show me some more building?"

"What would you like to build?" I asked. It seemed Luke had taken to my favourite hobby as well, and we often sat together and built things, usually while listening to Sam's endless array of stories. Sam had quickly worked through many myths, legends, and fables. Now it was focussing largely on fantasy for Luke's benefit.

"I dunno."

"How would you like to try fixing things? The washing machine is broken."

"Okay!" Luke leapt down from his place at the table.

He had healed well, I thought. His voice had strengthened, no longer the frightened murmur he had greeted me with. He had gained enough weight that he was starting to show traces of healthy puppy fat. He was strong enough to stand easily on his own, and his wounds were fading into scars. Even his lank, filthy, matted hair, which I had shaved off, was growing back in a comfortable, natural looking way. It had even found enough life to give him adorably dramatic bedhead. His fingernails, which his old master had removed with pliers, according to Luke, were slowly growing back, and just the day before he'd lost his first tooth as a result of adult teeth growing in.

"You go to the washing machine. I'll grab a toolkit and meet you there soon. Sam, please finish cooking and join us."

Luke raced off in the direction of the laundry room. Sam nodded and continued cooking. I took the toolkit down the hall and unplugged the machine so Luke could crawl inside, as he insisted was absolutely, unavoidably necessary.

He poked happily around at the bottom of the ringer while I fixed the machine from the outside.

His mannerisms had changed too. He wasn't as shy and afraid to ask for anything. He found courage to tell me when he needed things, and had adapted quite well to his own bed. The idea of anyone outside of the castle still made him a little nervous, but as long as we stayed within the confines of the walls, he felt safe and protected.

Spiritually too, he seemed better off. He was truly happy, not that sad little veil he had kept over his true emotions in the slave market. At least, it had seemed a thin veil to me. It seemed he had believed it completely.

I smiled to myself when I noticed that my train of thought was actually taking me to pride of how belligerent and stubborn he was learning to be. Obi-Wan would have had a comment about that, of course, probably involving a phrase resembling "he learned from the best."

Best of all, Luke's presence was healing my spirit as well. I was learning to put aside my past to be with him. I forgot sometimes, the terrible whirlwind my life had always been as I calmed him at night after a bad dream. When I chased him around under the tables and chairs, I could easily forget that he wasn't my son.

At last, he called me to let him out of the dryer. Having finished my own work, I decided to set the wringer to move very slowly, and started it up. Luke shrieked. When he figured out what was happening, he laughed. He laughed and kept laughing, not stopping until I turned the machine off and lifted him out.

He wiped aside tears of laughter and punched my shoulder gently. "You shouldn't do that, meanie. You scared me."

I smiled at him, "You seem to be coping."

He started punching me successively, laughing. "You're such a jerk!"

"I wonder what's taking Sam so long. We should go check."

Luke stopped play-punching me and nodded. "Yeah."

I carried him back to the kitchen, and we almost walked right into Sam, who was coming out with our meals. The droid swept around and carried them back to the table, laying them out for us. I set Luke at his place and sat down at my own. Sam took its honorary seat at the table and continued the story it had been telling us when we'd departed for the washing machine.

Luke listened intently, and when the droid was done, I carried Luke back to his room and tucked him in, kissing him goodnight.

"Goodnight, Mister."

"Goodnight, Luke."


	16. Lost

As I mounted the stairs to wake my son, I thought, not for the first time, that Luke should probably stop calling me "Mister" eventually. _Maybe he would call me daddy. I am the closest thing he's ever had. But, maybe he'd want to keep that name for his biological father. He seemed very determined to keep love for his parents. But maybe, just maybe, I could convince him anyway._

I entered his room, and all thoughts of anything as trivial as naming flew from my mind. His closet door hung off its hinges. The bed was empty. There were weapons lying about the room. And blood. There was blood on his pillow, and a terrible puddle on the floor beside the bed.

"Luke!" I started tearing the room apart to an even greater extent than the original attackers had completed. "Luke!"

I ran to the closet, tearing through everything, looking for the poor boy.

"Luke!" I yanked open the drawers in his dresser, searching for him, sobbing. "Luke!"

I ran to check under his bed, but all that lay there was Sam. I dragged the droid out and tried to activate it, hoping it had seen what had happened to Luke. But the droid didn't stir. I rolled it over, and, sure enough, its chip had been removed.

"Luke..." I put my head in my hands and began to cry. The boy. I'd done _everything_ for that child! I'd given him everything I knew how to give. I'd given him the last fragment of my heart. And now he was gone. Stolen. Kidnapped. What if they sold Luke back into slavery? What if they tortured and killed him? What other terrible things could they think of to do to a child?

At last I stood, and put one hand in the place my boy had been sleeping. It was still warm. I sat down hard and felt myself start to cry harder. After everything I'd done, everything I'd given up for that boy to have him stolen from me. There was truly no justice in the galaxy. I had allowed that boy free reign over anything he wanted. I had held my temper for him. I had allowed the rebel princess to live after he had approached her. I had allowed an entire prison full of people to go free because knowing that I had them prisoner had scared him.

It must have been the rebel girl's fault! Luke had met her, had spoken to her. Before I had cleared her memories of that day, she must have told someone about him. She was the reason he had been taken! I should never have spared her and her wretched, worthless politician father. I should have killed them! I should have ended their meaningless little lives when I had the chance! They should never have had the chance to ruin my life.

_But think how that would have scared Luke._ Some unbidden voice said from deep within me._ How could he have trusted a man who would end an innocent girl's life?_

_She wasn't innocent! She turned him in!_

_You don't know that. And if you had killed her, Luke would have never been able to be sure. He would have had to live with the knowledge that you might have killed an innocent child for him. He would have had to grow up with it. You know how that would have torn him apart._

_But now he won't get the chance to grow up!_ I wailed at the strange voice._ Now he won't grow up at all!_

_You don't know that._

_What good could they possibly intend to do him?_

_If rebels knew you were keeping a young boy here, and that he never left they would suspect cruelty, not protection._

_The rebels wouldn't care if I had a child here!_

_The rebels are people, just like you. They would worry about the child in the hands of their enemy._

_Who are you? Who do you think you are to tell me what to think of the rebels?_

_Has it really been so long, Anakin? Have you forgotten me entirely?_

_Answer the question._ I demanded.

_I am Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin. You were to be my Padawan._

_I was never your Padawan. You weren't able to convince the council to accept me, even your dying words only succeeded in forcing them to allow me to enter the Temple. You trained Obi-Wan and doomed me._

_I saved you from slavery. I showed you a galaxy outside of that oppression._

_And what good has it done? Now I am the oppressor, funding planets like the one where Luke has been taken._ I put my head in my hands and cried helplessly. I just wanted to feel that my child was safe somewhere. I didn't need an intrusion by my old master. I just needed to be reassured.

_You showed Luke kindness, something he's never known before._

_And now he will be looking for it again. What if he asks the wrong person? He's so trusting. They wouldn't hesitate to exploit him. He's just a boy. He's not ready for the cruelty of this galaxy._

_Anakin, you would have felt that way forever. You bonded with the child in the way of a parent. This is the reason that Jedi are not supposed to form bonds._

_I'm not a Jedi._

_But perhaps you would do well to learn from their teachings. You grew too attached to Luke. If you had been able to walk away when you first met him, none of this would have happened. He would still be a slave under some unknown cruel master, and you could continue to rule the galaxy without worrying that anyone you harm might be close to him._

_But I might harm him. He would never have been given the chance to be loved._

_There are many children like him. Perhaps you would have met one of them, and this could all have worked out for you._

_But what about Luke? Would anybody think to care for him?_

_I can't say, Anakin. We have no way of knowing._

_You're calling me selfish._

_Yes._

_After everything I've been through, and everything I've lost, you're calling me selfish._

_Yes._

_How could you do that?_ I demanded, incensed.

_Anakin, this is the only certain way we know to make sure that you found and cared for Luke. No matter what he has been taken to, you have given him a sporting chance at life._

_Do you know where they took him?_

_No. I apologise._

_Leave me alone._

I felt Qui-Gon's presence leave me, and stared out across my boy's room. I had done everything I could think of to do for the boy. Was he right? Had it still been good that the boy and I had found each other if it had merely given Luke a chance to know what he was deprived of?


	17. Found

I turned to the door in surprise when I heard the knock. Cautiously, I approached the door, worrying about any traps it might have hidden. Reaching out in the Force, I sense no ill intentions, instead I felt…? No, it couldn't be. I hadn't heard from Luke in the twelve years since he had been captured. But still, I had never sensed another presence quite as… innocent.

I keyed the door open, and there stood a young rebel in a fighter pilot's outfit. I felt a disappointment deep in my heart, and tried to push it away.

But the young man's face had lit up at the sight of me, blue eyes shining. "Mister?" he asked.

I had been waiting to hear that word again for twelve years. And at last it was spoken to me. I felt everything that had transpired since Luke's capture lift off my shoulders. He was here, alive and well, safe back in my home.

"Luke?" I asked, afraid to believe it.

The boy darted into my arms, wrapping himself around me. I put my arms around him in return, cradling him as carefully as I could. He had grown considerably since I had last seen him, but he was still small for his age. His hair still had its general disregard for gravity. And his emotions were just as raw and powerful as they had been all those years ago.

"Luke? What happened? Where did they take you?" I asked him.

He didn't answer. Unless you were willing to consider him wedging himself even more closely under my arm to be answering.

I sighed, continuing to hold him. He was crying, so I lifted him off the floor, cradling him the way I had back when we had first known one another. I carried him inside, placing his shaking body on a sofa and sitting down opposite him, my hand on his.

"Luke?"

He pulled himself back into my arms and continued crying. I sat and rubbed his back before forcing him to release me and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Shh, Luke. It's going to be okay." I promised.

He sniffled, and nodded, pulling himself together.

"That's right. Deep breaths."

He took a shuddering breath.

"W-would you take off your mask, please?"

I did as I had been asked, and he looked at my face again.

"I n-never thought I'd see you again." He said shakily.

"I thought they'd killed you, child."

"Oh, Mister. I can't believe all this happened." Luke sighed, and I pulled him close so he could rest his head on my shoulder. In my arms, he curled up, looking down at his knees.

"Why are you wearing a rebel uniform?"

"They saved me. Princess Leia, remember her? When they captured one of the Imperial ships, I was serving aboard as a slave. She forced my master to free me and took me home with her."

"Did she seem to remember your previous meeting?"

"No, you wiped her memories right."

"Has she been good to you?"

"Yeah. Life with the rebels is pretty good. We stay mostly with a guy named Han."

"And yet you've decided to return to me?"

Luke squirmed, "I'm not sure. I owe everything to the rebels, but I also owe everything to you. I'm not sure what to do now. They said you're evil, but you said that they're evil. I don't understand it, Mister. You're all good people. Both of you have saved me from slavery now. Why do you hate each other?"

"In order to have good guys, there must be bad guys. Everyone wants to be a good guy, and that means that they chose bad guys. But I don't think anyone really believes that they are evil. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'd just like there to be an easy answer here."

"Wouldn't we all?"

"What do you think I should do? I want to stay with you, of course, but I really don't want to leave Leia and Han."

"It's your choice, Luke. I would like you to stay with me, but I can understand if you want to go back to your friends. I've told you, anyone who truly loves you isn't going to put a limit on the love you can give and receive."

Luke relapsed into tears, and I held him close, comforting him in every way I could think of.

"What is it, Luke? Is it just the idea of trying to decide?"

"It's that too," Luke sobbed, "But mostly I'd just forgotten how I felt when I was with you."

I rocked him gently.

"Luke, look at me."

He tilted his head back, gazing into my face. "Yes?"

"How did you get here?"

"Leia flew me."

"Does she know why?"

"I said it would be a good opportunity for her to find some information, and that I could distract you."

I sighed.

"Should I not have done that?"

"It's all right, Luke. It's well worth it to see you again."

"I shouldn't have, should I?" Luke started to cry again, pressing himself hard against my armour.

"Shh, shh. It's all right. You're going to be okay. Take a deep breath."

He took a long, hiccup-y breath.

"And now another one."

He did as he was told, finally sniffling himself calm again.

"Luke?" I turned and saw the princess staring at us.

I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was cradling a young man against my chest as though he were a toddler. He looked up at his friend and stood.

"Hi, Leia."

"You." The young woman's voice had gone cold, matching her glare, as she gazed on her friend. "I freed you. I took you in. I gave you food, shelter, medical attention, I was your friend. And all along, you've been working for him."

"Leia, no, it's not like that." He started to move towards her. She moved forward and slapped him, before turning tail and running.

Luke raced after her, calling her name. I replaced my helmet and followed hesitantly, not wanting to cause any more damage than I already had. But despite how slowly I was moving, I still heard the shout of hatred Leia left him with.

"_I thought we were supposed to care about each other!"_ Then engines roared in the distance. I hurried up. When I reached the landing pad, Luke sat there, staring up at the sky, tears streaming down his face.

"Luke?"

The boy was on his feet in a moment, glaring at me.

"You ruined it!" He shouted. "You ruined everything! I had a home again for the first time in years, and you just destroyed it!"

"Luke…"

"She's never going to forgive me for this; you understand that, don't you? She could never forgive me!" he held up his fists and ran at me, as though he planned to beat me up.

When he came near enough, I caught him, pulling him against myself and rocking him as his anger gave way to hurt, and he sobbed into my armour.

I didn't speak, just continued cradling him as I led him up the stairs to his old room. It had never felt right to me to change anything about it, as I had hoped all along he would return. Carefully, I laid him out on his bed, pulling the dusty blankets up around him. He gave an almighty sneeze and pulled himself from the covers.

"Can't I stay with you tonight?"

I considered trying to explain the social implications of what he was asking, but the crumpled look on his young face was enough to change my mind.

I helped him to his feet again, leading him down the hall to my own quarters and resting him on my bed. He sniffled.

"I'm going to go get on a tunic, alright? You lie down and try to go to sleep, all right?"

Luke nodded, and I turned to leave the room. But suddenly, he interjected. "Wait, can I have your cape, please?"

"Luke, there are more than enough blankets there for you."

"Please, all this time, it's been one of the things I've missed the most. The capes you used to give me."

I moved back over to him and carefully tucked my cape around his small body. As I finally moved to attach the clasp around his neck, something I had been afraid would choke him when he was younger, I noticed a chain around his neck.

"What's this?"

Luke opened his eyes again and looked down at the chain. A couple of tears trickled down his cheek. "Leia got it back for me."

I knelt down to look him in the face, "What do you mean she got it back?"

"It's the necklace the slaver took. My locket."

"May I look inside?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Sure. They're dead now, and Leia doesn't care about me, so I don't care what you do with it." He looped it over his head and passed it to me.

I took his hand, "Luke, Leia does care about you. It's the only explanation for how she reacted. She cares about you."

Luke sniffled, "Then why did she slap me? Why didn't she give me a chance to explain?"

"She was afraid you wouldn't be able to explain. She will feel guilty about what she did, but she will know that there is a chance that you didn't betray her. If you choose not to tell me where her base is, then she will know that you care about her as well."

Luke nodded and snuffed noncommittally.

Deciding it was pointless to continue to try to convince him, I opened the locket. Padme and I stared back.


End file.
